According to the National College Athletic Association, seven million high school students play sports at the collegiate level. Fewer than one percent of those students are offered scholarships. Twelve Cathedral Catholic High School athletes signed their letters of intent this Wednesday morning, making them a part of that one percent.

The twelve athletes signed their letters in the USDHS library, wearing the sweatshirt or shirt of their soon-to-be new school.

The ceremony began with a prayer from Father Martin, blessing the new athletes and wishing them the best of luck in their college athletic pursuits.

Once the prayer concluded, Mr. Ron Marquez, Director of Sports, called out athletes one by one to sign their letters.

Hogan Irwin ‘16 is the only senior athlete to receive a scholarship for football.

“My original plan was to go to Columbia University and play in the Ivy League,” Irwin said. “But then, they started to ‘abandon me’ and I lost communication with them. About halfway through my football season, Johns Hopkins started to contact me. I toured their campus and everything about it seems awesome. I’m really excited to play there.”

Other male athletes receiving scholarships include Cooper Milton ’16 (water polo) with a scholarship to the University of California, San Diego, and Milo Barton ’16 (soccer) with a scholarship to the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Multiple female athletes signed letters for soccer, too. Some of these student-athletes included Olivia Erlbeck ’16 and Crosby Mackinnon ’16, both recipients of scholarships for soccer.

“I’ve been trying to achieve this since freshman year,” Erlbeck said. “And now that I’m finally here, I’m so happy.”

The signing went successfully and the student-athletes look forward to their futures in college sports and beyond.

“On a scale of 1-10 how excited am I that I’m finally here? Definitely an 11!” Mackinnon said.

Dana Dalton: women’s soccer – University of Arizona

Sunny Dunphy: women’s soccer – University of Los Angeles

Olivia Erlbeck: women’s soccer – Duke University

Audrey Hegardt: women’s soccer – Santa Clara University

Hogan Irwin: football – John Hopkins University

Erin Kelly: women’s soccer – Wellesley College

Cosby Mackinnon: women’s soccer – University of Idaho

Cooper Milton: men’s water polo – University of California, San Diego

Niamh Nelson: women’s soccer – University of Louisiana

Emily Sanchez: women’s soccer – University of California, Santa Barbara

Kian Vidarsson: men’s soccer – University of San Diego

Milo Barton: men’s soccer – University of California, Santa Barbara