Since the sixth grade, the duo has played together on the soccer field, becoming best friends in the process. Last Wednesday, Mercer Island High School seniors Mary Hill and Erin Bourguignon signed their letters of intent to play college soccer. In the fall, the best friends will part ways, heading to schools across the state, but will meet again with their university’s face-off on the soccer field.

National Letter of Intent Day is the first day that high school seniors who play football, field hockey, soccer, track and field, cross country and men’s water polo can sign letters of intent. Hill will be playing at Seattle University, and Bourguignon will play at Eastern Washington University in Cheney. It was the first choice school for both athletes.

“I visited and I just fell in love,” said Bourguignon of Eastern. She verbally committed to the Eagles the summer after her junior year. Hill verbally stated her preference for the Redhawks of Seattle University on the first day that she could, largely in part because her older sister, Nance Hill, who will be a senior next year, plays defense for the team.

Hill was also a member of the Crossfire girls premier ’91 team, which will see the entire 2010 graduating class play at Division I schools this fall. The class of 16 girls will play at schools across the country, including Columbia and Penn State, and five girls at the University of Washington. The team is a two-time region IV champion, national champion and five-time state champion.

“We are very proud of this group of fantastic athletes. They are the best team we’ve ever had in our Crossfire Premier Club. So many of the girls have been with the team since U11-12, which shows a true sign of development,” said Dick McCormick, Crossfire girls coaching director and Premier ’91 head coach.

Mercer Island High School has a few students each year who go on to play athletics in college, but Principal John Harrison said they are typically few and far between in team sports.