PARKERSBURG — Makayla Burns, a veteran swimmer for Parkersburg South High School, has signed on to compete for Fairmont State University’s swim team. “Originally she proabably was leaning against it,” South swim coach Steve Lutz said. “She swam, as a club swimmer for a lot of years and she really liked the high school swimming and was having a great time, but I think she thought she’d kind of leave it behind, up to about her junior year. And then she started her senior year and she started to love again.” The college search for upcoming high school graduates is a process that many go through, and often the student is presented with a variety of options to look in to. For Burns, Fairmont State University seemed like a great match. She decided to become a Fighting Falcon after researching a number of higher-ed schools, talking to other student athletes, and eventually making school visits. “I have a couple of friends that actually go to FSU like Emily Gersper,” Burns said. “She was the first one that I knew of that went there. So they helped me figure out my choice in colleges. I’ve been there five times and I really like it just because the campus is small. So it’s going to be hard for me to get lost.” Lutz was enthusiastic when he heard the news of Makayla’s decision to attend Fairmont State. One of the reasons is because the swim coaching staff for Parkersburg South has a solid relationship with the Fairmont State swim program, including the head coach at the university, Pat Snively. “(Burns) got to looking around and there’s not a better school out there to swim at than Fairmont,” Lutz said. “Pat Snively is awesome. We send a lot of our kids there. One of our coaches, Ryan Radcliff, is a Fairmont State Alumni and we kind of have a good relationship with them up there.” Over the course of her high school career Burns has made a name for herself as a very competitive swimmer. Burns has qualified for the state competition all four years of swimming at PSHS. Burns considers her specialty to be freestyle swimming, and it’s a style of swimming where she ranks high in the state of West Virginia. At the 2018 OVAC Bill Brubaker Swimming Championship she competed in the Women 200 free event where she clocked a time at 2:08.90. At that same championship, Burns competed in the Women 500 Free and her time in that event was 5.45.88. “Makayla can do anything, she doesn’t have an offstroke, she can compete in any event you want,” Lutz said. “Her favorite is probably the 200 free. I’m sure when she gets up with Pat she’ll swim some 500s and thousands. She’s done 500 for us now for a few years. She’s very very good at it, one of the best in the state.” When Burns was looking for a school to attend she wanted to make sure she found a place with the major she was interested in. After researching school programs she decided to take an interest in Fairmont State’s nursing program. The process of deciding on where she wanted to actually attend was a timely process for her. “I was pretty set on it junior year, and then we started looking at other colleges, and I wasn’t sure, and then the other colleges that I looked at just didn’t compare to Fairmont,” said Burns. Steve Lutz and the other three PSHS swim coaches will remember Burns not only as a competitive swimmer for the high school, but also as a leader. “We’re going to miss her. Her leadership is fantastic. I’m proud of her, but just kind of sad to see her go at the same time,” said Lutz. “She comes from a great family. Great work ethic. You can always count on her to be there, and she’s always in a good mood, even when she’s tired she’ll always manage to smile at you.” Burns will begin her new life in college bringing with her all the skills and swimming experience she has on her resume to Fairmont. Most high school swimmers know that their senior year will be their last year competiting in the sport, but after four years of very competitive state swim competitions, the swim career for Burns has just begun. “She’ll fit in great, their girls team won the conference this year and she’ll go out and be a big part of helping them do that again next year, I’m sure,” said Lutz.