Nine Make Their Decisions Official
Nine senior Mullen athletes put pen to paper and officially declared their athletic residency for the next four years of their lives. November 8th was the declared date for senior athletes from all across the county to declare their intent (with the exception of football) to play their sport at a college or university at the onset of a new fall, and at a 12:45 PM ceremony in the newly constructed Student Life Center in the Sferra Center on the Mullen campus, that is exactly what these nine Mustangs did.
To see the new digs in the recently renovated Sferra Center, it was worthy of a big stage comparison and reflected those settings these seniors will experience when they partake in their very own collegiate news conferences. Their signing table was adorned with a Mullen-branded table skirt against a similarly branded backdrop which was neatly positioned between two drop-screens on either side which displayed pictures of the signees and their future destinations. Awaiting family, friends, and supporters in attendance were brochures on the audience chairs listing each signee’s college or university of choice and a brief bio of each the athlete’s high school accomplishments.
The ceremony began with an invocation and blessing of the honored athletes by Associate Athletic Director, Mr. Hank Hooper. He then turned the proceedings over to Athletic Director, Ms. Melynda Brown, who messaged heart-felt congratulations to the athletes and entrusted each one of them to carry their Lasallian foundation with them to their future school. After Ms. Brown’s remarks, she introduced each of the athletes’ coaches to come to the Mic and say a few words on behalf of their senior signee. The coaches who stood and spoke were Kristen Russell, girls’ lacrosse, Jeff Oliver, girls’ volleyball, Garrett Braddock, boys’ lacrosse, Tonia Jones, girls’ basketball, Matt Degitis, girls’ soccer, and Jerry Koehler, boys’ golf. When the coaches concluded their remarks about their players, Associate Athletic Director, Mr. Joey Mahmood, stood and expressed his congratulations to the seniors, thanked the coaches, the Sports Performance Department, and the Sports Medicine Department for their contributions to these seniors’ successes and then invited all nine athletes to sign their letters of intent. Once their letters were signed and sealed, the onslaught of pictures with family and friends began and concluded the ceremony.
The sport most represented at this year’s November signing ceremony was girls’ lacrosse. Hannah Aquino signed with the University of Wisconsin-Stout, Andrisen Eckman signed with Rockhurst University, and Estella Geffre signed with Regis University. Girls’ volleyball was next with two signing, Devon Moore with Denison University and Lauren Stanga with Benedictine College. Diego Bronson signed with Illinois-Wesleyan to play lacrosse, Allison Schwertner signed with Boston University to play basketball, Kate Vezzani inked with the University of Wisconsin-Madison to play soccer, and Jack Newton signed his commitment to play golf at Oklahoma City University.
The Heartland of the country was represented most in this signing class with seven of the nine signees inking with schools located in the central part of the country. The other two commitments landed in Boston and Denver, respectively. Typical of Mullen signing classes, the seniors, great athletes that they are, demonstrated exactly why these institutions of advanced learning wanted them as part of their community and athletic teams. To a player, these seniors proved to be exceptional leaders on their teams and in the Mullen community. Further proof of their worth is the combined average of all nine’s cumulative grade points. Together they managed just a hair under a 4.0 with an average of 3.99777. Though this statistic has never been documented, in memory the average of all signees has never been this high. What a testament to the students we have and their families that entrust us with their development. We wish them the absolute best and cannot wait to follow their future successes.
As alluded to earlier, the only sport not allowed to sign on the November signing date is football. Instead, football players who sign with Division I schools will be allowed to sign on December 20th. As well, on February 7th, what used to be the original signing date, all athletes may sign their letters of intent to colleges and universities.
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