During the lunch period Wednesday, Nov. 13, six Archie Williams students gathered at the Senior Tree to celebrate their commitment to colleges by signing their National Letter of Intent. Signing Day is a special day at Archie Williams, focused on celebrating the hard work and dedication of Falcon athletes. This year, seniors Mari Rode, Jacob Carrera, Vincent Krilanovich, Paige Murphy, Zach Wulff, and Ava Brooks participated in Signing Day.
Archie Williams Athletic Director Jett Russell led the celebration by introducing each athlete, the college they committed to, and their future goals. He shared each athlete’s past experience in the sport and congratulated them on moving to the next level to complete their goals for the future ahead of them.
“As an athletic director, Signing Day is one of my favorite events of the year. Playing collegiate sports is a big deal, and I always love seeing how proud our students are of their achievement to make it to the next level,” Russell said.
Ava started off the celebration, finalizing her commitment to Division I rowing at the University of California, Berkeley. Ava is the only Falcon commit who doesn’t play an Archie Williams-associated sport.
Following Ava, Jacob signed with the University of California, Davis for Division I water polo after years of hard work at his sport along with high academic performance. Jacob has played water polo for 12 years, including three on the Archie Williams varsity boys team. Jacob also won the 2023 MCAL Player of the Year Award.
“I’ve expected to play in college… The only kind of question was where it was going to be. This is a goal [marked] complete and now it’s on to the next set of goals,” Jacob said.
Vincent committed to Stanford University to continue his water polo and academic career at the Division I level. Vincent left a large impact on the boy’s varsity water polo team over the past three years, and the water polo community will miss him dearly.
The next athlete called up was Mari. Mari is committed to playing Division III soccer at Middlebury College. Her family and many of her teammates attended the event to support her commitment.
Up third, Paige has played softball for the majority of her life, including four years of varsity at Archie Williams. Paige is committed to Division III Tufts University to proceed with her career in softball as a Jumbo. She is extremely hardworking and now gets to fulfill her dream of playing at the next level.
“It means a lot to me. It’s kind of like what I’ve been working for since I started playing… It’s a relief to know that I’m going off to the next level and that all my hard work throughout the years has paid off,” Paige said.
The final athlete to be recognized for his commitment was Zach, who won the title of 2023 MCAL men’s volleyball player of the year. Zach plans to further his volleyball career at Division I Sacred Heart University and will complete his fourth year playing for the Archie Williams boys varsity volleyball team in the spring. Zach has dedicated years of his life into volleyball and is prepared to carry on his goals and dedication on the next level.
To conclude the ceremony, all of the commits posed together for a photo, followed by applause and congratulations for each athlete and their hard work and dedication. In the spring, another Signing Day will celebrate additional hard-working athletes.
