Congratulations to four Fossil Ridge High School athletes as they signed to their desired colleges on Wednesday, November 9. The four seniors each representing their future schools signed enthusiastically agreeing to compete for their school in the fall of 2017. The students are Bailey Kovac for girls swimming at Indiana University, Grace Philop for softball at Fort Hays State, Brynn Montgomery for volleyball at University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and Jared Brannen for track at field at Davidson College (North Carolina).  

Bailey Kovac has been swimming all her life preparing for her up coming future. Kovac has made varsity all four years for the Fossil Ridge High School swimming team and has made it to the Olympic trials for the 2016 Olympics. She humbly explained that she wasn’t expecting to make it this far, she was just enjoying the ride. Kovac originally did not want to go to Indiana University because of her parents push to attend the school, but when she went on the recruitment trip she fell in love with it.

Grace Philop, who has been playing softball since kindergarden explained that she grew up wanting to play collegiate softball. She worked hard and gave it her all which lead her to be an amazing player. Fellow softball player Isabella Mahal describes Philop as someone who is easy to talk to and  really welcoming to the new players on the team.

Brynn Montgomery, who signed to the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, described signing to North Carolina as  amazing and made her dreams of playing at Wilmington feel like a reality. She looks forward to living near the ocean, taking classes she is interested in, meeting new people, and playing volleyball at the D1 level. She credits her coaches specifically, the ones  last year as well as this year, her recruiter, and her parents who were her biggest supporters through the process.

Jared Brannen, who signed to Davidson College, said that it was a huge relief to sign this early because he doesn’t have to worry about “college stuff”. He is excited to know what he is doing for his future and looks forward to attending Davidson to see how the school can prepare him for the future and starting a new career that he is passionate about. He credits his parents, his coaches, teammates,  brother, and  girlfriend as his biggest supporters during the season.

Congratulations to the athletes for working hard and achieving your dreams,  good luck in your future schools and in your athletic careers.