The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

Area athletes pick their colleges

College-bound students take a bow, thank all those who helped them.

Mesoraco's slam sends Reds over Braves
7:38 a.m.
Lost chances cost Cougars
5/25/12
Badin advances to regional final
5/25/12
West hopes to keep winning
5/25/12
Is third time the charm for senior?
5/25/12
> More sports headlines

1:17 AM Thursday, November 10, 2011

By Jay Morrison

Staff Writer

FAIRFIELD — An overflow crowd packed into the Indian Room at Fairfield High School on Wednesday to watch four student-athletes sign their national letters of intent.

Flanked by proud family members, friends, teachers, coaches and administrators, Kelly Browning, Raeshaun Gaffney, Mallorie Kah and Curtis Olvey put pen to paper and took turns at the podium offering thanks to everyone who helped get them there during the hour-long ceremony.

“There’s no way they would be here today without the support system they’ve had,” FHS Principal Billy Smith told the crowd.

“I am so excited because these are the kinds of things we look forward to as school employees. This is a great day. It’s been an awesome feeling to watch you guys and an absolute pleasure to be here today.”

Browning is headed to Charleston to play softball; Gaffey is going to Virginia for basketball; Kah committed to Ball State for volleyball; and Olvey is on his way to Kent State for baseball.

FHS athletic director Mark Harden also took a turn at the podium.

“This is my favorite day of the year,” he said. “These guys are absolutely amazing kids. Their coaches are each going to talk about them, but I’m going to give you my favorite stats of theirs.

“That is Browing 3.93, Gaffey 3.35, Olvey 3.41 and Kah 3.43,” Harden continued, referring to the student-athletes’ grade-point averages. “Four All-GMC academic award winners, four scholar-athletes. These guys are the total package.”

The sentiment was similar at Talawanda later in the day, when Evan Bader, whose 4.34 GPA has him ranked No. 1 in his class, signed his letter of intent to swim at nearby Miami University.

“I want to thank all of my coaches I’ve had over the years and my family for supporting me,” Bader said. “I also want to thank all of my teammates who have been pushing me all these years, because it definitely helps in practice.”

There was plenty of thanks passed around at FHS as well, along with quite a few tears as the athletes took turns praising their parents and posing for pictures.

Ross basketball standout Max Mischkulnig is headed to Maryville College.

Among local schools, Lakota East had the largest contingent of signing athletes, with 10. Included in the list of Thunderhawks who will be continuing the academic and athletic careers at the next level are two members of the state championship baseball team in Mike Conrad (Cincinnati) and Alex Corna (Ohio University).

Also headed to Athens to play for the Bobcats is Ali Lake (volleyball). Zach Mueck, the state runner-up in tennis, is headed to Xavier, and basketball standout Whitney Wyckoff is bound for Yale.

The others East student-athletes who signed were Jessika Hall (swimming, Michigan State), Alyssa Grevenkamp (basketball, Findlay), Hannah Berling (volleyball, Tusculum), Tazzie Shaw (basketball, Marshall) and Hannah Sigala (volleyball, Morehead State).

Lakota West had four signees, including sisters Shabazz and Summer Reeves, who will play basketball at Morgan State, along with Corri Muha (volleyball, Georgetown College) and Mel Stewart (volleyball, Northern Kentucky).

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2193 or jmorrison@coxohio.com.

Focus on your hometown teams Signing Day

Share this article