By Jamie McBee/The Spartanburg Sports Report
The Spartanburg Vikings athletic program held their spring signing ceremony on Thursday afternoon as they had five student athletes commit to play at the collegiate level next season. The men’s tennis team led the way as they had three sign on Thursday with one member of the men’s soccer team and one from the men’s swimming team also signing.
The three men’s tennis signees are members of a team that has won the last three 4A tennis state championships and are currently on an eighty-two game winning streak. The first player to sign was Omar Williams who signed with Wofford College. Williams is a six year letterman for the Vikings, been named All-State twice and has a career record of 102-1 at Spartanburg. When asked about his commitment to Wofford Williams said, “It’s a wonderful school and the campus is beautiful. The academics are extraordinary and the tennis team is great and Coach Ray at Wofford is just a great guy. I’m really happy and looking forward to being there.”
Spencer Brown also from the men’s tennis team committed to play at Appalachin State next year. Brown is a four year letterman for the Vikings, has been named a two time All-State selection as well and currently holds a 31-8 record. When asked about his commitment to Appalachin State Brown said, “When I went up there on an official visit I just bonded with everyone there and knew it was the place I was supposed to go. I just love everything about the school.”
The third member of the men’s tennis team to commit on Thursday was Arpit Rana as he committed to Centre College in Danville, KY. Rana who currently holds a 55-1 record for the Vikings said that academics were key in his selection of Centre College. “I want to go into pre-med and they have a really great pre-med program there and the coaches were very supportive of my academic choice. They have a really good tennis program there and are currently second in the conference.”
The tennis team wasn’t the only team with signings on Thursday as Spencer Ashby committed to Lenoir-Rhyne in swimming and Garrett Schaff committed to Oxford College of Emory in soccer. Ashby, an All-State swimmer, said about commiting to Lenoir-Rhyne, “When I started this process I was really looking for a place that had that family feel and when I went up there to visit I could tell that they had that because everyone always seemed to be together.” Garrett Schaff is a four year letterman for the Vikings soccer team and said his commitment to Oxford College of Emory will be like going home again, “I’ve always loved the Atlanta area growing up around there. It will be nice to get back down there.”
The five athletes committing on Thursday were not only star athletes but are exceptional student as they have a combined GPA of 4.39.
