A lifelong dream came true on Wednesday morning for 16 Cathedral Catholic High School senior athletes, as they signed letters of intent to play their sports at the collegiate level. The event took place at San Diego Hall of Champions in Balboa Park with other San Diego county high schools.

The following morning, the students gathered once again, this time in a more intimate setting with family, friends and coaches to celebrate their accomplishments on campus.

After receiving an offer to play softball at California State University, Long Beach, Devyn Magnett could hardly wait for the next step.

“I was extremely excited and I couldn’t wait to go see the campus,” Magnett said.

Besides being excited about their accomplishments, the student athletes also expressed profound relief.

“It’s a huge weight off my back,” Quinn Hoffman said. “It’s nice going into the season not having to worry about where I’m going to be, where I’m going to go.”

Hoffman will be attending Harvard University, and playing baseball there in the fall. The moment Hoffman received the offer coupled relief with pure excitement.

“I had the biggest grin on my face, and it was probably one of the greatest moments of my life,” Hofffman said.

The athletes’ coaches commented on their strong character and work ethic that played a large part in achieving their goals.

“I think as far as Devyn is concerned, she’s worked very hard not only to achieve personal goals, but team goals while she’s been here at Cathedral,” Ms. Margaret Mauro, assistant vice principal and varsity softball head coach, said. “She has always been a team player, and she never really worried about her own personal statistics. It’s really a wonderful honor for her to have been able to [verbally commit] as a junior, and to be able to sign the letter [yesterday].”

The student athletes have been working hard to maintain a careful balance between athletics and academics.

“With Quinn signing a letter of intent to go to Harvard, it’s a great payoff for all the hard work he’s done,” Mr. Gary Remiker, varsity baseball coach, said, “not only on the field, becoming a great baseball player, but also in the classroom to get the grades and the SAT scores and ACT scores necessary to get into an Ivy League school.”

Ms. Mauro brought to light the sacrifices student athletes make, usually only familiar to the athlete and their family, for the third-party observer.

“There’s a lot of things you can see during the course of a school year, but a lot of it takes place outside the school year,” Ms. Mauro said. “It’s the summers, it’s the vacation times they give up, it’s the times that they may not be able to go to the dance on a Friday night or a Saturday night because they’re traveling with their travel ball team, or away at some tournament. There’s a lot of personal sacrifice that goes in from them and their families.”

Committing to play their sport at the collegiate level is certainly an accomplishment these students have earned.

“I think it’s just a great opportunity for students that have worked their tails off and are gifted athletically to go ahead and pursue their sport at the next level, which I’m sure has been a dream of all these athletes who signed since they were itty-bitty pipsqueaks,” Mr. Remiker said.

The breakfast this morning was the first of three signing breakfasts that will be held this school year for the Class of 2016. The next one will be in February. See a photo slideshow of the event on the CCHS Facebook page.

Congratulations to the following students who have committed to collegiate athletic programs.