Signing Day: Four locals to play at next level
Each made their mark as freshmen, and four years later, four Flathead Valley athletes made signed to continue their athletic careers at the next level.
Whitefish’s Luke May and Coral Schulz and Glacier’s Teigan Avery and Hailey Bennett signed national letters of intent to play their given sports in college, after making significant impacts in their prep careers.
May, a three-sport standout for the Bulldogs, signed to throw javelin at the University of Minnesota. A two-time Class A state champion in the event, May has a career-best throw of 206 feet, 7 inches and is in a succession of successful javelin throwers to come from the Valley. In the past four years, four other javelin throwers have signed at NCAA Division I colleges from the area’s high schools.
May has used his arm in the fall as well, quarterbacking the Bulldogs football team since his freshman year, helping the team to the state semifinals the last two seasons, and is also a standout on the basketball team.
Avery and Schulz have dueled on the golf course as teammates and competitors for nearly their entire careers and will carry that to the collegiate ranks.
Avery, who signed to golf at the University of Montana, is a two-time Class AA state champion and one of the most accomplished prep golfers in Montana state history, placing in the top two at the Class AA state tournament in all four seasons. She won the overall state junior championship three times, finished first in her age group seven times and with Schulz represented Montana in the Junior America’s Cup, the Montana-Alberta Junior Ryder Cup and the Big ‘I’ national championship among a litany of other tournaments.
Schulz signed to golf at Montana State University after winning the last two Class A state championships for Whitefish. She also finished in the top three in Class AA each of her two seasons at Helena Capital.
Hailee Bennett made an impact on the Glacier basketball from the beginning of her freshman season, immediately taking the role of the team’s top ballhandler and playmaker. Bennett, who will begin her fourth season on the Wolfpack’s varsity team in a few weeks, signed to play at NCAA Division II Seattle Pacific University in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. The Falcons play in the same conference as Montana State-Billings, and have a Montana native on the staff, former MSU-B and Malta standout Bobbi Knudsen, the GNAC career record holder for assists, field goals made, field goals attempted and minutes played.
Wednesday marked the first day of the early signing period for schools. The regular signing period for begins on Feb. 3 for football and soccer and on April 13 for all other sports.