By Cole Tomlin, News Editor
After years of hard work, dedication and perseverance, four First Flight seniors are taking flight to the collegiate level, where they will showcase their skills on the national stage.
Soccer player Lauren Montgomery, golfer Katherine Schuster and runners Tyler Sylvia and Max Bowlin all recently signed letters of commitment to four different colleges, where they plan to continue their athletic careers.
These talented athletes have racked up a combined seven state championships, and they have shown no signs of slowing down in college. Their accomplishments have clearly not gone unnoticed, and for them, being acknowledged for their success is an indescribable feeling.
“It is truly the best feeling in the world, knowing that years of working hard have truly paid off,” said Bowlin, who will run at Flagler University in Florida.
For Schuster, who verbally committed to Clemson University‘s golf team the summer before her sophomore year, it was love at first sight.
“As soon as I stepped foot at Clemson University and met face-to-face with the coach, I knew in my heart that it was the place for me,” Schuster said.
As for Montgomery, she was another athlete who decided to verbally commit during her sophomore year. She had a similar experience when visiting the University of Mississippi in-person and learning about the soccer program.
“I was talking to other schools and trying to keep my options open; however, after visiting the campus with my friend (and now roommate) it was clear I wanted to attend the University of Mississippi,” Montgomery said.
Verbally committing early on in their high school careers proved to have some unexpected advantages for Montgomery and Schuster due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Gratefully, I committed my sophomore year, so the COVID-19 restrictions did not specifically apply to me,” Montgomery said.
However, Sylvia and Bowlin had a hard time setting up visits to college campuses because of the COVID-19 restrictions that were put in place. Many schools have set restrictions on visitations, which has led some schools to send virtual tours to their student-athlete prospects.
“The recruitment process during COVID-19 was different because we missed the most important season for recruiting and if you wanted to visit a school there are a lot of restrictions,” Bowlin said.
Despite these roadblocks, both Bowlin and Sylvia were able to find the right school for each of them.
For Bowlin, he saw Flagler College as the best place for him to succeed both athletically and academically.
“I chose Flagler because it fit me perfectly,” Bowlin said. “They met my academic needs and their team will push me to get better, and it’s full of awesome guys who welcomed me like family.”
For Sylvia, East Carolina University was the school for him. He is very excited to work with his new cross country and track coaches, as well as take advantage of the relatively short distance from home.
“It’s important to me because I will be able to come home and go fishing or to the beach and see my family if I have a free weekend,” Sylvia said.
Collectively, this group of athletes may be one of the most impressive to come out of FFHS, with three of them committing to the NCAA Division-I level and one going D-II.
“There is still a lot of work that needs to be done in order to reach my full potential, but there are no words to describe the feeling to be able to represent an ACC school,” Schuster said.
Senior Cole Tomlin can be reached at 21TOMLINCO11@daretolearn.org.
