By Marty Gordon
Auburn High School boys’ soccer player Chris Neal has announced he will continue his playing days at Mars Hill University, a private school in North Carolina.
“Mars Hill seems to be my ideal college to further my academic and athletic career and develop as a player and a person,” Neal said this past weekend.
Neal was named all-district and all-region as a freshman and as a junior.
He competed with the Target Cup travel soccer team after being selected as a CCL United candidate. He also won a state championship in 2018 with the Auburn cross-country team, followed by a runner-up medal in 2019 for both soccer and cross country. He is currently one win away from a CCL Premiership league title with VBR Star, and that game will take place next weekend.
Mars Hill has an enrollment of 1,355 students and is a Division II member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and a member of the South Atlantic Conference.
“My goal is to come out of my college career as the best player I can possibly be,” Neal said. “I want to become a key player for Mars Hill, and I would love to eventually be an All-American athlete.”
At Mars Hill, Neal plans to major in integrated health sciences with a physical therapy concentration.