By Kyle LoJacono
Five Wesley Chapel student-athletes ensured their playing days will extend beyond high school when they participated in the Wildcats National Signing Day ceremony Feb. 6.
Girls soccer player Kelsey Bare signed with Division II Saint Leo University, girls track and field athlete Courtney Prengaman inked with Division I Samford University in Alabama and football players Aleny Vega, DaQuan Caesar and Jordan Primus picked Division III Briar Cliff in Iowa, NAIA Missouri Valley College and Mendocino Junior College in California, respectively.
Vega, a linebacker, said it was surreal to participate in Signing Day.
“I kept asking myself is this real; am I really going to sign with a college today,” said Vega, who will study medicine. “It is, you walk down to the media center and you sign and it makes it real, but it’s still crazy when it happens.”
Primus, a wide receiver, said he probably wouldn’t be going to college if it wasn’t for football.
“I’m still in shock that I get to go to college with my grades and everything, but it all worked out,” said Primus, who will study business management.
Caesar, a running back, was surprised he has the opportunity because he stepped away from football while in eighth grade and as a freshman, but returned for his final three years of high school.
“I just wanted to get back into sports and needed something to do,” said Caesar, who will study law enforcement. “I didn’t think I’d ever get to play in college.”
Caesar said he will likely move to slot receiver.
Prengaman, who will study elementary special education, won the Class 2A state high jump championship last year, which helped make competing in college possible.
“I had people looking at me, but no one made offers before states,” Prengaman said. “After that I had a lot of schools interested, and I started getting letters in the mail.”
Bare, who will study business management, set the program’s single-season record this year by scoring 19 goals while playing all three positions in the field. As a junior, she helped the Wildcats make the first playoff berth in their 13-year history.
“It was great to be able to help change the feel of the program,” Bare said. “The first two years were pretty rough, so it was great to go far last year and do something that had never been done before at the school.”
—Follow Kyle LoJacono on Twitter: @Kyle_Laker
