It’s signing day season. and for many St. Dominic senior students, that means officially committing to their future college. We finally got to celebrate these students as we watch them grow in their sport. Their final months here at St. Dominic are going by quickly, but it’s an exciting time to see these athletes compete. On Wednesday, November 8th, ten seniors from the class of 2024, got to gather in the big gym, and celebrate their future sports careers.
Soccer has been one of Dominic’s top sports for a very long time. Six out of the ten students who signed, will be playing soccer. All six, are girls who have played for Dominic, at one point in their career. One of these girls is Sami Roggenkamp, who will be playing for Lindenwood University next year. She has been a key player for Dominic her past four years, and received first team All Conference last season as well.
More girls playing soccer next fall include Brooke Tufts, who will be playing at Drury. Mackenzie Long, and Corrine Mastall, will both be attending Millikin University. Another stud athlete who will be playing at Michigan State, is Kaleigh McPherson. Reese Potts, who will be playing soccer at Kansas State University, is also among the six women, and gave her thoughts on her recruitment process.
“I would reach out to schools I was interested in, and ask them to come watch me. My coach first told me KState was interested in me so I got out to an ID camp, loved it, went on my visit, and committed the next week,” Potts said.
Everyone’s recruitment process is different, but for Potts she looked up to her mom for guidance, who would spend time working on highlight videos, and stats with her. KState is a Power5 school, which was of course one of the reasons Reese wanted to play there. She has always wanted to play in college, and grew up playing with the 05/06 club, Lou Fusz team.
Potts had a minor setback last year, she tore her labrum in her hip which led to surgery. She has thankfully recovered, and will hopefully be joining the St. Dominic girls team this spring, for her comeback debut.
“I was a little nervous to come back, I’d been injured before, but I had never needed surgery prior to this and I was worried about falling behind, I was definitely more excited to get back though,” Potts said.
Speaking of excitement to get back, senior basketball player Brayden Gardner, just kicked off his last season here at Dominic. He is also among those who signed, and will be playing basketball for Loras College, next fall. His recruitment process started the summer before his junior year. Attending elite camps, with his future college coaches, helped him the most when deciding where to attend.
“I look forward to playing basketball at the next level, especially because of how hard I worked to get to where I am today,” Gardner said.
Basketball and soccer aren’t the only sports who have committed athletes. Sydney Borho, will be going to Columbia College to cheer. As well as Evan Luke, who plays baseball, and will be playing for the University of Central Missouri. Lacrosse commit Caroline Thorne, also shared her commitment to Missouri Baptist.
Many of these student athletes have an elite mindset to win for their sport, which has led them to accomplish their goal of competing in college. They are the students that underclassmen are able to look up too. They are the captains of Dominics sports, that lead us to have a reputation of sportsmanship, and hardworking programs.
Because of these stellar athletes many parents, faculty, and students, are proud to call Dominic their home. Make sure to come out and watch your fellow peers at their games, and wish them luck as they wrap up their final season, here at St. Dominic, and move onto the next level.
