The most recent crop of college athletes produced by Fort Mill High School signed to play college athletics this past week.
On Thursday, Feb. 5, Fort Mill had eight athletes make commitments to play at the next level including two softball players, two football players, two runners, a lacrosse player, and a basketball player.
The two runners which are part of both the cross-country and track programs at the school were Connor Demmerle, who is going to Furman, and Tierre Peterson, who is going to USC Upstate.
Demmerle has been a five-time Region champion and holds school records in both the 4×800-meters and the 800-meters. He was the anchor of the 4×800-meter relay team that led them to finish second in the state in the 2025 state meet. He was instrumental in guiding the boys’ cross-country team to two consecutive state championships. He has been recognized as both an All-Region and All-State runner in both track and cross-country.
Peterson is a multi-year letterman in both cross-country and track for Fort Mill. She has been a part of three state championship teams for the girls’ cross-country program. She ran her best time of 20:22 at the York County Championship in her senior season of cross-country.
The two football players signing are Lloyd Shope, who is going to Hampden-Sydney College, and Gray Patterson, who is going to UNC Charlotte.
Shope was a three-year varsity captain for the Yellow Jackets and has played defensive tackle, defensive end and on the offensive line. He won the Yellow Jacket Award and the Coaches Award as part of team awards and led Fort Mill with 20 pancake tackles while playing for the Jackets. He has also been a part of two state championship wrestling teams while at Fort Mill, lettering in wrestling as well for three-years.
Patterson was a three-year varsity starter and team captain for the Fort Mill football program. A three-star athlete, Patterson was considered the third best linebacker in the state this past season. He was named Defensive Player of the Game several times during his career and was awarded the Iron Jacket 2025 Athlete of the Year. He holds the school’s official bench press record as well at 332 pounds.
The two softball players signing were Emily Poteat, who is going to USC Union, and Natalie Razum, who is going to play at Grove City College in Pennsylvania.
Poteat earned four varsity letters in the sport and led the team in hits, RBIs, and stolen bases this past season. She also plays travel softball for the Carolina Hurricanes.
Razum has been part of the softball program for the past three seasons playing catcher and first base. She finished in the MaxPreps top 10 in the state in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage as a sophomore. She hit two home runs as a junior and batted 1.000 in the playoffs for the Jackets.
Kate Marker was the lone basketball player signing and will be going to Southern Virginia University in Buena Vista, Va. She has been a varsity player for Fort Mill the past four years and has been a member of the All-Region team. She has averaged 23 points and 13 rebounds over her time at Fort Mill. She has also lettered in track for the Jackets. Her junior season of track, she helped to lead Fort Mill to a state championship by playing in both the shot put and javelin.
Charlie McGuire will be heading south to play college lacrosse at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Fla. He has lettered four times for Fort Mill in the sport and is a three-year captain for the Jackets. He earned both All-Region and All-State honors in the sport and has played for Team Carolina club lacrosse program as well.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
