By Jackson Robbins
In the senior class at Delta, many of them have played sports since a young age> Now they are about to be playing the same game at a college level.
One of these seniors is Marian University Ancilla College softball commit Hannah Carter.
“My dad always preached that I could play at that level, so I always put myself at those standards to do better,” Carter said.
She has played softball since she was 3 and the work has paid off. She committed after her junior year.
Marian Ancilla is in Plymouth, quite the distance from Delta, but Hannah is excited to make the jump
“Even though it’s two hours away it feels like home,” Carter said.
The youngest person graduating is 16-year-old Samori Mckell-Jeffers, who’s a junior but technically a senior by the credits he’s earned from classes.
He’s played three years of varsity soccer in just his three years of high school, but he also started playing the game at the age of 3. He committed to Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio to continue his career.
He has wanted to play at a high level since a young age.
“I’ve always had it in my mind, but a big moment was when I first transferred to a big club when I was 13,” Mckell-Jeffers said.
He’s coming in ready for the jump to the next level.
“You’re playing against grown men at the college level, but I think it will be good for me.” he said, soon to be one of the youngest players on the soccer pitch.
Another senior in this class is University of Saint Francis basketball commit D’Amare Hood, who left his mark on the basketball court. He joined the career 1000-point club this season and helped the Eagles win back-to-back regionals.
Hood has been playing ball since the age of 3 just like his two peers.
He has been recruited by Saint Francis since his junior year.
“They first started going to my summer games, then they went to a lot of high school games so I took a couple visits there and stayed overnight,” Hood said.
His game will be challenged at this level as he is going to be one of the shortest players on the team, although he is 6-foot-4, one of the tallest at Delta. His senior year at Delta, he took jump balls, being used as the team’s starting center in games.
He is excited for the new start and change at Saint Francis.
“It’s a really good school in a good conference, and I connected with all the players and coaches and the staff is really good and they have a good history.” Hood said.
There are a couple of seniors that haven’t played their sports since they were 3 years old but are leaving to play at the college level. These students will not just play at the college level but even at the NCAA Division 1 level.
University of Notre Dame commit Nicki Southerland has done cross country and track seriously since middle school. She’s been ready to play at this high level for a while.
“I’d say in middle school I was hoping I could,” Nicki said. “I wasn’t sure what level I could, but in high school I started to believe I could run at a high D1 level.”.
Going to play at this level meant a heavy recruiting process for her.
“I went on four official visits and that was a lot,” Southerland said. “I talked to a lot of different schools. I got to meet a lot of different coaches and hang out with the teams and see different places. It was a lot of fun.”
Joining her at the D1 level is Eastern Illinois University commit Tyler Dillon, who started running cross country just two years ago but has been running track since sixth grade.
He had a successful senior season in the fall, qualifying for the IHSAA State Cross Country finals. This spring, he broke the school record for the 800-meter run.
“After my sophomore year at regionals I ran a really good race and after that it was just trying to pursue my dream,” Dillon said.
He did in fact accomplish his dreams, but compared to Southerland he didn’t enjoy the recruiting process
“It was very long and dreadful with a lot of weekend trips to colleges and talking to coaches at night,” Dillon said. “Just to come home after practice and sit down and talk to a coach for an hour every day.”
These two are both excited with the freedom that college has in running. Southerland said, “I’ll be busy with sports, but I think it will be nice to develop more of my own schedule and complete things on my own time instead of class every day.”
Now that all of these seniors are getting ready to go off to college they all share one goal: becoming a successful college athlete.
Hood said, “Do whatever I need to do to win” when asked what his goals are for college basketball,
With commits going to different colleges for different games, they all share one connection: coming from Delta.
