Through practices, games and off-season training, student athletes from a plethora of sports have shown how hard work pays off at St. Dominic. It takes passion and commitment to play a high school sport, and on February 1, 18 SDHS athletes signed their Letters of Intent to continue their athletic careers at the collegiate level. Family and friends gathered before school to recognize and celebrate the athletes’ great achievements and future careers.

The class of 2017 holds the record for the largest number of signees in one day. Every committed athlete came and represented the sport they love, and they were surrounded by a community filled with those who supported them along the way.

“It’s a huge testament that we have one or two unbelievable athletes; it was truly about a collective effort from all athletes. Many teams are better because of one individual player, but our teams are made better because of a bunch of unbelievable players, and that is a pretty cool culture to be a part of,” said Athletic Director Mr. Jim Welby.

Eight of our seniors signed their Letters of Intent to play at Quincy University next fall, including four of our girl soccer players. Goalkeeper Kaylee Imming verbally committed to play at Quincy in January, and signed February 1, along with her current and future teammates, Madeline Bauer, Sydney Gorman and Mary Maloney.

“The biggest difference from high school soccer to the collegiate level will honestly be getting my own gloves which will be super nice as well as the amount of year-round time commitment,” said Imming.

Aside from soccer, athletes have also committed to play volleyball, baseball and football at Quincy. The four football captains, Dominic Demerath, Max Messer, Jacob Larson and Jacob Jones all decided to continue their academic and athletic careers at their respective colleges. Demerath will be extra busy as he committed to Missouri Baptist University for both football and track and field. Jones has also recently decided to continue his football career at Truman State University.

“Playing football the past four years led me to meet some great dudes who just want to be guys. What I look forward to most about playing in college is the competitive atmosphere and being able to start over,” said Jones.

For senior Alex Hoff, playing baseball in college was always a part of his plan. After long consideration, Hoff committed and signed with Jefferson College. However, some other commits had taken last-minute decisions to a new extreme. Goalkeeper Collin Baker made his decision Tuesday night, about 12 hours before he signed and committed to play soccer at Columbia College.

“I went to train with the team on the 11th of January and I loved it, but I didn’t get to talk to the coach about scholarships. Even though we have been e-mailing ever since, he hasn’t brought up any money or scholarships, or even how bad he wanted me to play up until two days before signing day, and after a good night’s sleep, because that’s all the time I had, I decided to play. I didn’t even have any legit papers. I just signed a blank piece and drew a snowman,” said Baker.

The passion for sport and hard work these athletes share will follow them throughout their future athletic careers. The St. Dominic community, especially the senior class, is not only proud of the outstanding athletes they’ve become, but of the great character they will carry on throughout their college careers. Here is a complete list of all the 2017 signees:

Collin Baker — Columbia College — Soccer

Mikah Bange — Culver Stockton College — Soccer

Madeline Bauer — Quincy University — Soccer

Cole Birke — Quincy University — Baseball

Dominic Demerath — Missouri Baptist College — Football

Gabi Gevers — University of Alabama — Rowing

Sydney Gorman — Quincy University — Soccer

Alex Hoff — Jefferson College — Baseball

Kaylee Imming — Quincy University — Soccer

Jacob Jones — Truman State University — Football

Katanna Kortkamp — Lindenwood University — Soccer

Jacob Larson — Missouri University of Science and Technology — Football

Mary Maloney — Quincy University — Soccer

Bailey McNamee — Clarke University — Soccer

Max Messer — Quincy University — Football

Sam Pagano — Quincy University — Baseball

Megan Rossmann — Benedictine College — Lacrosse

Alaina Rothermich — Quincy University — Volleyball

Cate Sommerhof — Rockhurst University — Soccer