With nine athletes from eight sports, the Fort Mill Yellow Jackets finished off the school year strong with another large signing class.
Football, running, basketball, wrestling, soccer, tennis and dance made up the different sports represented at the signing day.
“We always love signing day,” said Fort Mill principal Gales Scroggs. “We are very proud of the student athletes signing.”
Running sports such as track and cross-country along with football each had two athletes signing. For the football team, Miller Shouse signed with Erskine College and Joe Schepler signed with Lenoir-Rhyne University.
Shouse is a three-year varsity starter for the Jackets, playing on the defensive line, at linebacker and as a running back for Fort Mill. He is an All-Region player as well from this past season.
“Erskine is going to be a good fit for Miller,” said Fort Mill head football coach Rob McNeely.
Schepler is a two-year kicker and punter for Fort Mill. An All-Region player as well, he has been on the traveling circuits at college camps spending his summers training which has paid off for him. His longest punt from this past season was 66 yards.
“Joe is stepping into a great program at Lenoir-Rhyne,” McNeely said. “It is one of the top facilities in the nation.”
Runners signing included Jackson Dawson, who will be running track at the University of South Carolina. He is a three-time All-State runner. He currently holds the school record for the 1,600-meters and anchored the 4×800 meter relay team to a school record as well.
Angel Kravitz will also be running in college at Columbia College in both cross-country and track. She has been to the state cross country meet three times and ended the season with a personal record of 19:34. For track she is primarily a distance runner and has a personal best of 5:48 for the mile and 12:22 for the two-mile.
“I am ecstatic for them,” said Fort Mill cross-country coach Lee Whitiker.
Fort Mill All-State player Kyle Neibch signed to play basketball at Wheaton College in Illinois. He was a two-year starter for the Jackets and scored more than 1,000 points during his time in high school at both Fort Mill and Batavia, where he played before he moved from Illinois. He was the Region 3-5A player of the year this past season.
A former state champion wrestler, Bella Hoffman signed to wrestle at Montreat College. She has been wrestling for four years at Fort Mill and also played softball, lacrosse, and ran cross-country during her time at Fort Mill. She is a four-time All-American in the sport and finished second in the nation in beach wrestling. She earned a spot for Team USA in beach wrestling and finished eighth in the beach wrestling world championships in Romania last fall.
The one soccer player that signed was Olivia Giarrizzi. She will be heading to Converse University in Spartanburg. She has played soccer for 15 years of her life and has played on the varsity level the past two seasons. She has also played for the Charotte Soccer Academy and Charlotte Independence as well.
Madison McCarty will be playing tennis at University of Mary Washington in Virginia. She was a four-year varsity starter and four-time All-Region player for the Jackets. She was co-captain her senior season and helped to guide the Jackets to the state playoffs.
Ella Patel will be heading to Clemson University to dance. She was a four-year member of the dance team for the Jackets and was a state dance association champion soloist and performed as part of the 2021 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. She has danced competitively with Center State Dance Academy for 10 years.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
