FOLKS
LAUREN MONTGOMERY
TYLER SYLVIA KATHERINE SCHUSTER
THE BEACH’S BEST These student athletes look to change the game after signing on to Division I college programs.
Photos by Lori Douglas Story by Steve Hanf
ATHLETIC DIRECTORS LEAD NOTORIOUSLY
running sports programs at high schools across the country. Yet every director looks forward to being especially busy on the first Wednesday of November for national signing day. That’s when high school athletes across the country sign their National Letter of Intent to compete for college teams. Most years at most schools, those days come and go with little fanfare – only about two percent of high school athletes earn college scholarships, after all. But at the November 2020 signing day, First Flight High School (FFHS) Athletic Director Chad Williams watched with pride as not one, not two, but three Nighthawks signed National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I scholarship offers. “For a school our size to have three Division I athletes in one year is a very cool accomplishment, and the fact that they come from three different sports speaks to the success of all the athletic programs we have at First Flight,” Chad says, counting only a handful of other Division I signees in the ranks since FFHS opened in 2004. “It’s inspiring for the athletes in our other sports, and their teammates, too.” Lauren Montgomery heads farthest from home to join the Ole Miss soccer team. Tyler Sylvia paints things purple as he joins the East Carolina University (ECU) track and crosscountry squads. And Katherine Schuster looks to continue her celebrated amateur career with the Clemson University golf team. The recent socially distanced signing events with masked teammates, coaches and family members – at FFHS for Lauren and Tyler and on a golf course for Katherine – were each a celebration of years of endless workouts, practices and travel to special events. And in an irony not lost on the trio, all the hard work “then” is paying major dividends now. “All my friends are like, ‘You’re so lucky, you decided sophomore year where you’re going, and you don’t have to worry about it,’” Lauren says. “It does take that pressure off your shoulders a little bit.” BUSY LIVES
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