By Noah Whitaker ’18

First off the Stampede would like to congratulate all McNamara signees and any signees across the nation for getting into college for more than athletics. Not only did it take hard work, but  it took blood, sweat, and tears.

National Signing Day is an event that occurs on the first Wednesday of February. It is the first day in which the NCAA allows athletes to sign the National Letter of Intent to play in college. Usually football players get all the buzz, but the other athletes should get just as much praise for getting a scholarship to go to college. There is another signing day in April for athletes who play spring sports like lacrosse, track and field, baseball, etc.

People were anxious to see where two of the biggest athletes at McNamara , Braedon Domino and Wes Bowers were going to sign. Many people had predictions for where they were going. There was a feeling of unease in the gym because you did not know where those two would sign. Domino and Bowers were the only ones that had not signed prior to the event. When it was their turn to sign it would be a sense of excitement, all those anxious feelings out the door.

There was a huge turnout for the ceremony, a shockingly large amount of people. Not saying that there was an expectancy of nobody or not that many people to come but it was like every coach, parent, friend of the athlete, family member, teacher, McNamara student and alumni from McNamara was in the gym. You would think a basketball game was happening during the middle of the day. It was a great atmosphere overall. Also a great feeling was in the air, the whole McNamara community was there to celebrate the hard work of the 15 athletes who signed.

When each athlete was giving their speech there was a loud applause for each athlete. Congratulating them on their hard work. Each athlete thanked God, their coaches, and family. They wanted to give thanks back to the ones help them to get to this point. Also each athlete had their own story, and all the stories were inspirational.

In the end the ceremony turned out to be a successful event. 15 athletes were signing to further their academic and athletic career in college. The stories of each athlete was moving and inspirational to those who play sports. Each got a scholarship to help ease the finances on their parents.

On behalf of the McNamara community we would like to congratulate the athletes: Taylor Wilson (University of Maryland), Maceo Campbell (Longwood University), Nick Washington (Harford Community College), Tim Hanible (Delaware State University), Jamir Moultrie (LaSalle University), Anissa Mose (University of Maryland), Keith Sherald Jr. (Kent State University), Justin Burns (Stony Brook University), Mark Murphy (Bowie State University), Raina Cooper (University of Alabama at Birmingham), Kyara Frames (University at Albany), Imani Bey (Virginia Military Institute), Micah Dixon (Mount Saint Mary’s University), Wes Bowers (Georgetown University) and Braedon Domino (Air Force Academy). Unfortunately Xavier Williams could not make the ceremony but he had committed to Kent State University.

The McNamara community looks forward to celebrating the spring sports signees and future McNamara athletes in college. Lastly the McNamara community also wants to wish the best of luck to our Mustang athletes in college.