Robertsdale, Spanish Fort and Foley were among the local high schools that held Spring Signing Day ceremonies Wednesday, April 26, where multiple student-athletes cemented their pledges to college …
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Robertsdale, Spanish Fort and Foley were among the local high schools that held Spring Signing Day ceremonies Wednesday, April 26, where multiple student-athletes cemented their pledges to college programs.
Eleven athletes from Spanish Fort, five from Foley and three from Robertsdale represented eight sports and are heading in 17 different directions. Also signing Wednesday was Channing Cantu from Orange Beach who represented a ninth sport and 18th college.
Broken down by sport, football led the way with four signees, followed by three in track and field and girls’ soccer. Volleyball, boys’ soccer and basketball all had two signees and there was one signee playing softball, baseball, tennis and golf each.
Division I signees included football players Josiah Hixon to North Alabama and Jacob Godfrey to New Mexico, Colin Spuler to Oral Roberts soccer and Hunter Hall to Western Kentucky track and field.
Below are more details on the signees by school. Follow @GCMSportsAL on social media for more pictures from the ceremonies.
Robertsdale: Kevin Zavala – Bethel soccer; Ja’Leal White – Goode Elite Prep basketball; Katton Hobbs – Goode Elite Prep basketball
Zavala was one of two all-state representatives from last year’s Golden Bear squad after he was joined by Hayden Harville in earning honorable mentions. This year, Robertsdale is postseason-bound for the third straight season and will hit the road Friday to face Thompson in the first round of the state playoffs.
White and Hobbs were the Golden Bears’ backcourt duo that led Robertsdale to second place in the postseason Class 6A Area 2 tournament to punch a ticket to a second straight berth to the state playoffs. They also mark the ninth and 10th basketball players to sign with next-level programs in the last eight years.
Spanish Fort: Braeden Holston – Bishop State volleyball; Reeve White – Coe football; Josiah Hixon – North Alabama football; Jacob Godfrey – New Mexico football; Reed Hopkins – Millsaps football; Colin Spuler – Oral Roberts soccer; Zoe Wise – Mobile soccer; McKynzi Dawson – Richard Bland softball; Byron McElroy – Spring Hill baseball; Goodwin Holley – Mobile tennis; Hunter Hall – Western Kentucky track and field
Representing the Toros Wednesday included one member from the state runner-up volleyball team, four players from the state-ranked football team, the all-time boys’ soccer leading scorer and a tennis player who was awaiting his match in the Class 6A state finals.
Holston is joining a Bishop State volleyball squad that went to the semifinals of the NJCAA Gulf Atlantic District Tournament and will play for head coach Nicole Keshock who also coached Holston in the club ranks.
The four football signees were key cogs to Spanish Fort’s success that saw a 7-4 overall record and a No. 10 state ranking in Week 3.
White didn’t allow a sack on the offensive line as a senior where Hixon and Hopkins contributed 33 and 23 tackles from the safety position. Godfrey was one of two Toros representatives named to an all-state team by the Alabama Sports Writers Association as well as the AHSAA North-South All-Star game.
About two weeks after Spuler set Spanish Fort’s all-time scoring record on the pitch at 76 career goals, he announced his commitment to the Golden Eagle program that was the regular-season champion of the Summit League. Both Toro soccer teams were set to host the first round of the playoffs Thursday night where the boys’ team drew Northridge and the girls’ team will face Theodore.
Also currently in postseason was Holley who advanced to the finals in Flight 1 of the singles competition at the tennis state tournament. He had taken down Jacob Bates from Hazel Green (6-1, 6-0), Griffin Armstrong from Hillcrest Tuscaloosa (6-0, 6-0) and Gray Johnson from Homewood (7-5, 3-3 – retired) to draw Mountain Brook’s Luke Schwefler.
Hall will also likely be set for postseason action in track and field after he claimed the discus and shotput titles at the Baldwin County Championships to go along with second place in the javelin throw where he owns the top mark in the state according to MileSplit at 169’ 1”.
Foley: Kylene Walker – Coastal Alabama (Bay Minette) volleyball; Kiana Nielson – East Mississippi Community College soccer; Yury Santaclara – Southern Union State soccer; Emily Wolf – Montevallo track and field; Tamia Dantzler – William Carey track and field
The Lions’ signees were highlighted by a pair from the county-champion track team who also have their names scattered throughout the school’s record book according to athletic.net.
After Wolf won the Class 7A state title in the discus last year, she’s only continued to break her own school records throughout her senior spring season. Her current best marks that are also school records include 40’ 7” in shotput for a nearly two-foot advantage over the next best mark from 2016 and 127’ 8” in discus for a nearly 20-foot advantage over her teammate Vivian Jones. Her best javelin throw of 100’ 6” ranks third all-time behind Taniya Bragg who set the record at the 2022 state championship meet.
Dantzler’s triple jump of 36’ 8” at the Baldwin County Championships bested Amari Pickens’ record from 2020 by four inches and beat Taqueena Pugh’s next-best distance set in 2017 by over two feet. Dantzler also owns the fourth-best long jump (16’ 10.5), seventh-best 300-meter hurdle time (54.14) and 12th-best 100-meter hurdle time (20.34).
Orange Beach: Channing Cantu – Jefferson State golf
Cantu golfed for the Makos the last three years and was the team’s low medalist in a win over Foley. She’ll be joining the Jefferson State golf squad who played their first two matches of the 2023 season in Baldwin County between Rock Creek Golf Club in Fairhope and the Gulf Shores Golf Club.