May 17—This year marks the first time that Mead Hall has produced seniors who will be participating in athletics at the collegiate level. This school achievement was celebrated with a signing day held Tuesday in the upper school auditorium.

Three seniors were recognized. These were Virginia Gwinn, who will run cross country at Berry College; Chuck Stanley, who will play golf for Gardner-Webb University; and Ashton Stroud, who will join the basketball team at Catawba College.

"This is such an honor to have our seniors move on to the next level in their respective sports," said athletic director Antonio Grant. "This also goes to show the time, dedication and hard work that these student athletes have put in, not only in their sport but also in the classroom."

Gwinn plans to major in animal science at Berry College and looks forward to joining the cross country team.

"I've gotten to meet the team, which is really exciting," she said. "I'll be getting a training plan hopefully at the end of May."

"Virginia is a fearless strategic," said Grant. "Although she seems to be really quiet and soft spoken, her spirit to win comes through like a roaring lion."

Stroud's goal is to play basketball for two years at Catawba and then move on to a bigger school, or possibly play overseas.

"It's been a wonderful journey coaching Ashton over these past five years," said Grant. "Watching him not only grow as a basketball player, but also watching him develop into a young man."

Stanley, who plans to major in business and later obtain a project management certificate, looks forward to playing golf for Gardner-Webb. "I just want to go and play as good as i can, and see where it goes from there," he said.

"I never had to question if he would play hard or not," said Grant about Stanley. "Because his competitive nature always stood out."

These athletes are inspiring for the students at Mead Hall who will have the chance to follow in their footsteps.

"Don't think you need to go somewhere else just to play college sports," said Stanley. "I think that everyone who signed today really proved that as long as you put in hard work you can definitely do it, even though we're at a smaller school."

Stroud's advice to other students is to continually push themselves to be better. "Don't ever feel like you're at where you need to be," he said. "Keep on reaching for the stars."