South's Alexander, Pollard and Kohlhagen will play on

May 26—CHEYENNE — Maurie Alexander had opportunities to play college basketball closer to home.

However, the Cheyenne South senior is embracing the old adage about college being a new chapter in life that's prime for new experiences. That's why he signed a letter of intent to play basketball for Delaware County Community College in Media, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday.

"I'm excited to try new things and kind of get a new start, which is why I chose a college so far away," Alexander said. "Most people would be scared to go that far away, but I'm looking forward to a new opportunity and the changes I can make in my life.

"I think I can grow a lot more as a person this way."

Alexander was a second team all-state forward this past season. He ranked fourth in Class 4A in both scoring and rebounding average at 16.8 points and nine rebounds per game. He also made 58% of the shots he took.

While the 6-foot-2 Alexander could thrive as a forward in 4A, he will move to either small forward or shooting guard at the next level.

"A big step I tried to take in my senior year was being more versatile and stepping outside the paint more," Alexander said. "I wanted to knock down shots, get to the rim, create off the dribble, and I think I did an OK job with that my senior year. I think I'll be ready to do that in college."

Alexander plans on studying communications with an emphasis in sports media.

Pollard will hit links for Taft

Maddox Pollard didn't play competitive golf until this fall. The Burns High graduate joined Cheyenne South's squad late in the fall season after his fall baseball season ended. Prior to that, he had played purely recreationally.

He got a full taste of prep golf this spring and fell head over heels for the sport, which led to him signing with Taft (California) College.

"Coach (Michael) Loveland did a good job of making the game of golf easy," Pollard said. "I'm not as good as I will be, but coach Loveland made the sport really easy to learn and helped me improve so much during the season."

Pollard played both corner outfield positions for the Colorado BBs before focusing on pitching after suffering a meniscus injury. He planned on playing for a post-graduate baseball team in Arizona and doing online college until Taft came into the picture.

"I changed positions in baseball and had to be real with myself that I wasn't as good of a pitcher as I was the positions I played before," said Pollard, who wants to study logistics and accounting. "I wanted to do something that would give me the most opportunity to further my education. I enjoyed golf so much that I could play it every day. I definitely got rerouted, but I think this is the right path."

Kohlhagen headed to LCCC

Proximity to home and affordability initially attracted Cheyenne Kohlhagen to Laramie County Community College. The opportunity to play soccer for the Golden Eagles made the school too good to pass up.

"I've played soccer for 15 years. It's my whole life, and I'm not ready to give it up," said Kohlhagen, who played defender for South, but also has played forward and midfield during her career. "These last couple years, I didn't think I was going to try to play soccer in college. But I spent a lot of time thinking about whether I really wanted to give it up.

"I decided that I would miss soccer too much to stop playing now."

Kohlhagen will study nursing, with the goal of becoming a nurse practitioner.

Jeremiah Johnke is the WyoSports editor. He can be reached at jjohnke@wyosports.net or 307-633-3137. Follow him on Twitter at @jjohnke.