And they’re off

Eight varsity players from both girls soccer and boys football signed their letters of intent to attend and play for their future school on National Signing Day, Feb. 1. The signings started off with both the head coaches of the girls soccer team and the boys football teams speaking about the players and their individual qualities.

“You keep working and find a way to get better each year. It doesn’t just take the time in school it takes it all the way through the summers and they have done that all the way,” Coach Kody Christensen said. “We’re extremely proud of the people you are. We’re extremely proud of the opportunities you gave to us as coaches. We couldn’t be more proud of you and we know going forward that you are going to make us extremely proud.”

The first player to sign from the girls soccer team was senior Logan Dye. Dye signed to York college to play soccer. At York, Dye will be majoring in forensic justice and psychology.

“I wanted to go to York because it has a Christian atmosphere and it’s small enough to have a student teacher relationship,” Dye said.

Second to sign for girls soccer was senior Kylee Heiner. Heiner signed to Southern Virginia University to play soccer. At SVU she plans to major in Dental Hygiene.

“I chose this school because it’s a D3 school and I didn’t want to be super competitive my first year, I still wanted to have fun,” Heiner said.

The last to wrap up the girls soccer team was Tori Smith. Smith signed to Texas A&M Commerce to play soccer. At A&M commerce she plans to major in Kinesiology.

“I wanted to go to A&M Commerce because I would be playing with people I know and they offered me a scholarship,” Smith said.

The boys football team members also signed their letters of intent.

“Obviously to be sitting here they have to be great athletes and they are. I could sit up here all day and talk about all of their accomplishments in football,” Head Coach Joe Lepsis said. “These four guys were a part of Wylie East’s first football district champions. They were a part of five playoff games and they were a part of the first Wylie ISD football team in history to beat Highland Park.”

The first senior to kickoff the signing for the boys football team was senior TJ Davis. Davis signed to Southeastern Oklahoma State. At SE he plans to major in Education and Communication.

“I chose to go to SE because it was close to home and I could continue to play football with one of my former teammates,” Davis said.

Second to sign for the boys was Corey Eggins. Eggins signed to Oklahoma Panhandle State University. At OPSU he plans to play  football and major in Engineering.

“I picked OPSU because I like the environment and the football team and I connected very well,” Eggins said.

After Eggins was senior Jimmy Trevillion. Trevillion signed to Northwestern Oklahoma State University to play football. At NWOSU he plans to major in physiotherapy.

“I chose to go to NWOSU because the coaches there are cool and the players treated me like family when I came to visit the school,” Trevillion said.

To end the day for the boys was senior  Peter Ihaka. Ihaka signed to Southern Arkansas University to play football. At SAU he plans to major in mechanical engineering.

“Southern Arkansas University offered me a great opportunity for the major that I want to study, which is mechanical engineering,” Ihaka said.

After signing their letters of intent, each player had a booth set up for them to take pictures with their family and friends and to enjoy the moment of being an official signed player to a college.