Six Fort Mill athletes signed letters of intent on the Jackets Signing Day Thursday.
Football led the way with two players signing, followed by a baseball player, golfer, runner, and cyclist.
Both Landon Kurtz and Gavin Brandwood signed to play college football. Kurtz will be going to the University of South Carolina and Brandwood will be going to Elon University.
Kurtz is a three-year varsity starter for Fort Mill as a defensive back. He was an All-Region pick his junior year and 5A Upper State player of the week during this past season. He had 23 tackles to go with two interceptions and nine pass breakups this past season. He said he liked what he saw at the school.
“They treated me and my family well,” he said.
Brandwood is a two-time varsity starter and lettered for the team as both a linebacker and defensive back. He is an All-State player at defensive back and a former All-Region player as well. He led the 5A classification with the most tackles this past season and was 13th overall in the state with 120 tackles. He also had three sacks, three forced fumbles and an interception for a touchdown.
“It is a great university,” Brandwood said.
Thomas Ealey is the baseball player that signed and is going to Virginia State University. He has been on varsity for two seasons and plays both in the outfield and pitches. He is a former MVP of the Sandstorm tournament and holds a 5.04 GPA. Ealey has been in Beta Club for the past six years. Ealey said he wanted to go to the Petersburg, Va. school.
“It feels really like family there,” he said.
Elijah Grant will be running track at Howard University in Washington D.C. Grant has lettered in track for four years earning both All-State and the team track MVP honors. He holds the school record for the 400-meters and broke his own record numerous times during the 2023 season. He recorded the third fastest 400 time in the state at 47.66 and runs in the 100, 200 and 4×400 relay events. He placed fifth in the adidas Outdoor Nationals.
Grant said he picked Howard because of how they made him feel when he visited.
“it was because of the relationships I had when I was up there,” he said.
Mackenzie Finn was the only girl signing and committed to play golf at Belmont Abbey College. She was a four-year varsity captain and during her time playing for the Jackets she earned All-Region honors all four years. In her senior season, she was runner up at the Region 3-5A championship with a career low round of 70. Finn plays competitive golf year round. She said she liked what she saw at Belmont Abbey.
“I chose it because of the great coaching staff and it has a beautiful campus,” she said.
The final signee was a first for Fort Mill as Remington “Remy” Clark signed with Milligan University to cycle. He completed his first mountain bike race three years ago and joined a cycling team in 2021 for the first time. He placed first in the Treeshaker six-hour race at the Anne Springs Close Greenway, along with second in the Vicious Cycles 12-hour mountain bike race. He finished fifth in the S.C. National Interscholastic Cycling Association.
Milligan University is in Milligan, Tenn and Clark said he like the school because it was a beautiful place.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
