Four athletic senior students have signed with their dream colleges to play their favorite sports. The signing took place on Wed., Feb. 4, here at McClintock High School.
Senior Max Hartgraves signed to Montana State Billings to play baseball.
“I’ve played baseball for 14 years,” Hartgraves said.
Hartgraves plans on playing baseball when he goes to college.
“I signed with Montana State University Billings so I can play baseball. It’s a good school and they have low tuition,” Hartgraves said.
Senior Mary Mentz signed with Chandler Gilbert to play softball.
“I’ve played softball since 5th grade, so about eight or nine years,” Mentz said.
Mentz applied to many colleges and has found one that she is dedicated to go to.
“I applied to a lot of colleges, especially to ones I knew I wasn’t going to get into, but I did apply to a lot of out of state colleges. I chose to go to Chandler Gilbert,” Mentz said.
There are many reasons why students chose to go to different colleges around the country, many students can relate to Mentz’s reason. “It’s just far away from home and out of the vicinity as it needs to be,” Mentz said.
College comes with a lot of benefits and Mentz is looking for a new start.
“I hope to get a super fun year of college and a new start to my life,” Mentz said.
The four students from McClintock are setting their goals to get where they want to be, and Kenan Sahman is one of them.
“I’ve played football for three years. I love the competition and how it is a competitive sport. I love how you have to be in and have to work for everything; it’s not given, it’s earned,” Sahman said.
Sahman is just like the other three athletes in the fact that he aspires to continue following his passion in football. It is for that reason he signed with Mesa Community College, and later he plans to go to a four-year university.
“I applied for Mesa Community because I couldn’t go to U of A. My grades were bad, so after I finish Mesa Community then I’m going to U of A,” Sahman said.
Not only does Sahman want to transfer to U of A to play football, he also wants to have his academics in place.
“[I hope to] get my grades straight so I can transfer to U of A,” Sahman said.
Softball player Andi Blodgett also shares an interest in continuing her sport in college.
“I’ve played softball since I was eight, so about 10 years,” Blodgett said.
Even though Mentz and Blodgett share a similar interest in the same sport, Blodgett has a different reason to love softball.
“[Softball] is a great game. It’s really similar to baseball and it’s kind of like another one of my pastimes,” Blodgett said.
Blodgett has applied for a university out of state.
“I signed to Chowan University because it’s in North Carolina. I’ve been there many times when I was little and I have family there. It’s very beautiful there and when I had talked to the coach he was really nice. They have a great community field,” Blodgett said.
Blodgett has her mind set on what her next step is in her life.
“Not only do I want to grow as an athlete, I look forward to just continuing my education and I’m excited of the aspect of being in a new environment and seeing a different part of the world,” Blodgett said.
These seniors are all ready to graduate and to begin the next chapter in their lives as college students.