College signings began for the 2016-2017 school year with seniors Jewels Caro, Hayden Boyd and Justin Young the morning of Nov 9. Surrounded by friends, family and coaches these three seniors signed their letters of intent.

Caro kicked things off signing to play softball at the University of Arkansas in Monticello.

“When I first met Jewels freshman year, she had this look of sheer determination,” softball coach Sharyn Vernon said.

Motivating her team through the seasons, Caro made a name for herself and became a concrete part of the softball family.

Boyd followed suit signing to the University of Arkansas in Little Rock for baseball. With only less than three percent of student baseball athletes signing letters of intent to play for a college baseball team, Boyd is now able to be a part of that select few.

“It takes a lot of work, takes a lot of parents’ support, takes a lot out of the summer time and takes a lot of discipline,” baseball coach Heath Andrews said.

From starting as a sophomore in a struggling team, they managed to turn that around to win the district title the following year. Excelling not just on the field, but also in the classroom performing to the best of his abilities to reach this point in time.

Young signed his letter of intent to run track at West Point as the final signing of the event.

“It’s an honor for him. It’s an honor for us to have him go into the military and to continue on with his education and to continue being a student athlete at West Point,” track coach Jason Olford said.

Young is now one of the top 10 hurdlers in the state of Texas. Making the finals at district and becoming a state qualifier, Young proved to himself that he could make it if he believed in himself.

“I hope those coaches are very excited to get an athlete like him that’s gonna take care of business not only on the track but he’s gonna be just as important in classroom and take care of business in the classroom,” coach Olford said.