This week marks the fall signing period for high school athletes, and several Trojans are putting pen to paper, signing National Letters of Intent to their respective colleges. They hail from five of Anderson’s athletic programs and will represent 11 colleges next fall.
On Wednesday, the volleyball team saw their trio of star seniors sign NLIs to play at the Division 1 level with Ashlynn Axtell, Jazmine Gaston, and Maddie Stuesser finalizing their college plans. They will play at Troy, Louisiana Lafayette, and UNC Charlotte for the 2024 volleyball season.
All 3 commits ranked among the top players in central Texas this season and were important to the Trojans’ success. Gaston was second on the team in kills (433), aces (46), and digs (337), and was a formidable outside hitter along with junior Arkansas commit Parker Duncan. Axtell starred as Anderson’s middle and led the team with 99 blocks on the season, 40 more than anyone else. She was also third on the team in kills behind Duncan and Gaston. As the Trojan’s top setter, Stuesser led all players in assists with a whopping 867 on the year, 4 times the amount that sophomore Ava Mitchell (who had the second most) had last season. Maddie also led the team with a .390 hit percentage this fall.
Today, the final 8 players will sign their NLIs at lunch in the large gym. Five girls’ lacrosse players, and a single member from each of baseball, men’s soccer, and men’s golf. Lacrosse’s leading goal scorer from a year ago, Harper Jones, is headed to High Point University in North Carolina. After potting 72 goals in just 15 games, the attacker will look to be even better this spring before she closes the book on her Anderson Lacrosse career. Fellow attacker Chloe Page will sign with Cincinatti to be a part of the inaugural season of the colleges division one program. She had 49 goals and 76 points last season, and is expected to play just as big of a role alongside Jones this season.
Often matching up with the opponents top scorer, the Trojans best defender, Katie Rich, will ink her letter of intent with Monmouth University, a division one school on the Jersey Shore. Audrey Thompson, a midfielder and team captain, will make her commitment to Oregon official as well after a spring that saw her score 19 goals and pick up 20 ground balls. Finally, Maddie Van Der Bossche is headed to Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida to continue her lacrosse career.
Jud Anderson, Trojan Soccer’s team captain and star player, is headed to the University of Alabama Birmingham, and will officially sign with the Blazers ahead of the start of his senior season. Last year, Jud netted 17 goals and 7 assists in 20 games, leading the team by a wide margin in both categories. He’s gonna be leaned on to support the Trojans yet again this season and hopefully lead them back to the playoffs after finishing in 6th place a year ago.
The final two players signing NLIs today are a pair of cousins in Trent and Drew Mierl. The former is headed to the University of Missouri where he will reunite with his brother to play college golf, while the latter will be pitching for Rock Valley College in the spring of 2025. Both are going to be big parts of their respective teams this spring and hope to have stellar senior years to close out their careers as Trojans.
Make sure to congratulate all of these great Anderson athletes on their commitment to play at the next level. The final eight players will sign at 12:45 today in the large gym, so show up and show support for your fellow Trojans!
