Student Athletes Ink Deal To Compete At College Level

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Canton, GA -- Fifty-seven Cherokee County School District student-athletes were recognized on Wednesday at the CCSD National Signing Day ceremony.

The students were recognized for signing scholarship commitment letters to compete at the college level.

Sponsored by Credit Union of Georgia and coordinated by the district’s Office of School Operations, the students, along with their parents, coaches, athletic directors and principals, were honored at a brunch Feb. 3 at the Northside Hospital-Cherokee Conference Center in Canton for making their college choices for a variety of sports on National Signing Day, which is the earliest day on which high school seniors can sign a binding commitment to play football for a college.

While football draws most of the attention on this date, lacrosse scholarships were the most prevalent, with 12 students signing with colleges to play one of the most recent sports added to district high schools. Cherokee County students also were recognized for commitments to play baseball, basketball, cross country, softball, golf lacrosse, tennis, volleyball (and beach volleyball) and swimming.

An additional signing day event is scheduled for April as district student-athletes continue to make their choices on scholarship offers this year, the district added.

Student athletes who signed commitments were:

CHEROKEE HIGH SCHOOL

Bryson Perry, Football, Army; Brittain Brown, Football, Duke University; Dwayne Tiller, Football, Shorter College; Kaci Reid, Lacrosse, Concordia University Saint Paul; Sam Thornton, Soccer, Georgia Gwinnett College; Morgan Harrison, Soccer, Kennesaw State University; Deven Bennett, Softball, Brewton-Parker; Rachel Catt, Softball, Univ. of South Carolina-Beaufort;

CREEKVIEW HIGH SCHOOL

Kyle Wilkie, Baseball, Clemson University; Samantha Rolka, Soccer, University of Arkansas at Little Rock; Avery Pickerill, Softball, Columbus State University; Bethany Hyde, softball, Truett McConnell.

ETOWAH HIGH SCHOOL

Sawyer Gipson-Long, Baseball, Mercer University; Brian Peet, Baseball, University of West Georgia; Madelynn Reeves, Cross Country, Georgia Southwestern University; Alex Smith, Football, Georgia Southern University; Bronson Rechsteiner, Football, Kennesaw State University; Brandon Reibly, Football, Reinhardt University; Rachel Kraus, Lacrosse, Georgetown College; Beth Haynes, Lacrosse, Georgetown College; Alec Drosos, Lacrosse, Jacksonville University; Jaclyn Regnery, Lacrosse, Kennesaw State University; Sean Smart, Lacrosse, Mercer University; Daniel Zimny, Lacrosse, Young Harris College; Sarah Garrett, Softball, Gordon State College; Ana Albertson, Tennis, Austin Peay; Nikki Gilner, Tennis, Georgia Southern University; Galen Lee, Tennis, Harvard University;

RIVER RIDGE HIGH SCHOOL

Zachary Cable, Baseball, Chattahoochee Valley, Phoenix City, Alabama; Luke Berryhill, Baseball, Georgia Southern University; Dylan Schoknecht, Baseball, Hesston College; Cody Simmons, Baseball, Maryville College; Olivia Stasevich, Beach Volleyball, Georgia State University; Caroline Mlaska, Golf, Maryville College; Lexi Fairchild, Lacrosse, Emmanuel College; Brooke DeSantis, Soccer, University of Michigan; Jessica Anthony, Soccer, University of West Georgia; Beth McCulley, Softball, Kennesaw State University; Ben Van Hout, Tennis, Northern Arizona University.

SEQUOYAH HIGH SCHOOL

Daniel Seres, Baseball, Kennesaw State University; Megan Garcia, Basketball, LaGrange College; Cameron Cox, Basketball, Navy; Derrion Rakestraw, Football, University of Colorado; Lisbeth Coleman, Soccer, Reinhardt University; Laney Joyner, Softball, Auburn University; Taylor Dodd, Tennis, University of S.C. Upstate; Morgan Dodd, Tennis, University of S.C. Upstate; Kelley Hartman, Volleyball, University of South Alabama; Lauren Hartman, Volleyball, University of South Alabama

WOODSTOCK HIGH SCHOOL

Trevor Daniell Hillhouse, Baseball, Auburn University; Kennedy Montgomery, Basketball, Columbus State University; Jillian Chiesa, Lacrosse, North Greenville University; Celine McDuffie, Lacrosse, Savannah College of Art and Design; Jenna Carr, Lacrosse, University of Alabama - Huntsville; Jordan Gaines, Lacrosse, University of Alabama - Huntsville; Danielle Rubin, Softball, Kennesaw State University; Lauren Case, Swimming, University of Texas

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Photo 1: Bryson Perry of Cherokee HS signs to play football for Army.
Photo 2: Sequoyah HS twins Morgan Dodd, left, and Taylor Dodd, right, sign to play tennis at University of South Carolina Upstate.
Photo 3: Scholar athletes from River Ridge, Sequoyah and Woodstock High Schools.
Photo 4: Scholar athletes from Cherokee, Creekview and Etowah High Schools.
Photo credits: Cherokee County School District