With college acceptance letters going out for most early I and II decisions, many seniors have an idea of where they’re attending college; but for some, committing to college sports teams helped make their decision. Many seniors have already declared commitment to in-state and out-of-state colleges for various sports, including Track and Field, Baseball, Football, and Basketball, making the choices for sports to play in college seems endless. Jared Kuchinski committed to Mt. San Jacinto as a kicker for football, but that wasn’t always the plan. “I’ve been planning on playing football in college of a while but it started with soccer. My soccer coach at North Creek told me I should be a kicker for football so I’ve been practicing everyday since,” Kuchinski said.

Varsity sport competitors and college athletes tend to go hand in hand, with many participating in high school sports before making the decision to continue into college. Many of the committed plays participate in multiple sports a year. Ella Seelhoff played both varsity soccer and track and field before committing to Eastern Washington to run Division I Track and Field. “I’ve always dreamed of playing at the division I level, with two older sisters to look up to they pushed me the most to prove I could do it. Dreams become a reality when I went on a visit and fell in love with the culture, location and coaching staff at EWU,” Seelhoff said.

Signing letters of intent have been a goal for some since beginning their sport, but for some, the discovery came along the way. Lindsey Koch started off unsure when the year started about if she was going to continue Track and Field in college, but after visiting the University of Hawai’i, she knew it was where she wanted to continue her time as an athlete. “I picked University of Hawai’i because of the great environmental science program and track team dynamic. I will have lots of labs learning about the environment of Hawai’i. The team is an all girl team who were all so welcoming and will make moving away feel easy,” Koch said.

With signing day getting closer and closer, many juniors have also started to think about playing sports in college. Addison Farman, a state champion diver, has given verbal commitment to the University of Nebraska and Tabitha Biasco has verbally committed to Baylor University for tumbling and acrobats. “Something drew me to Baylor University was the sport I wanted to do. They have been NCATA champions 10 years in a row and have been undefeated 30 meets in a row. I took the offer because I wanted to compete against the best to really work for a starting spot. I plan on studying pre-med in order to become a dermatologist or plastic surgeon,” Biasco said.