Division 1 athletics at the college level require a huge level of dedication, as students commit to one sport that they play, practice for, and train for year-round. Division 1 is the highest level of intercollegiate college sports that one can play. Five talented MadisonHigh School students recently made this commitment with their signings of their NCAA National Letters of Intent, which are contracts made with the school to play that sport. Michelle Montagna, Brynn Taylor, Molly Fishter, and Christian Scarpello will all be playing Division 1 lacrosse, at Sacred Heart, University of Richmond, University of Michigan, and Rutgers respectively. Gavin Wallace will be playing baseball at Fairfield. Mr. Levine claims it is “very competitive to play sports in college at any level, especially at the Divison 1 level,” and indeed, Division one is a large commitment, which Mr. Dowling likened to “going to school full-time with a full-time job.”
Many people are involved behind the scenes to make this commitment possible for the students at MHS. The coaching staff is, of course, a large factor in shaping these and other students’ talent and dedication to their sports. They must also know the recruiting landscape for their sport so as to give their athletes the best chance possible. Parents and teachers must be there to help these students along the way. The guidance department also plays a large role in this process, as the guidance counselors must make sure that all of the potential Division 1 athletes at MHS are eligible as per NCAA standards of eligibility. All of this hard work, deemed a “team effort” by Mr. Dowling, has paid off year after year at MHS. The school has traditionally sent a large number of athletes to Division 1 athletics every year. “It is unusual for a school this size to turn out the number of Division 1 athletes that we do,” comments Mr. Levine. According to Mr. Levine, it is an “accomplishment” to send a single graduate to play at the Division 1 level, much less an average of five. Mr. Dowling calls it “mindblowing that we have such talent here – we continually, each year, turn out Division 1 athletes.” And of course, the athletes themselves have both the talent and the dedication to the hard work required to reach and maintain the Division 1 standard.
Mr. Dowling cited certain sports as being very promising at both MHS and the college level: field hockey and girls’ and boys’ lacrosse. MHS has very strong programs for these sports at the high school level. These sports are also growing at the college level, so these two factors combined make these three sports especially promising and offer lots of opportunity. All in all, this is a wonderful accomplishment for Michelle Montagna, Brynn Taylor, Molly Fishter, Christian Scarpello, and Gavin Wallace. Congratulations to these student-athletes. In the words of Mr. Dowling, “it’s a great day to be a Dodger!”