By MADELEINE BURKE & MOTAZ DEIFY
It’s a no-brainer that QO is filled with gifted and talented athletes. However, out of all of the athletes, very few people are likely to stand out to colleges. According to Scholarship Stats, approximately “a little over 7% of high school athletes go on to play a varsity sport in college,” hence making the recruiting process very selective.
This year, however, 18 QO student-athletes have committed to continue their academic and athletic careers at their prospective colleges.
For example, senior Brady Hahn has committed to play tennis at Messiah University. Hahn chose to take tennis seriously during his transition to high school because “it’s a lot easier to play than a lot of other sports during COVID,” he said. Before high school, Hahn had been playing soccer, but “it wasn’t really an option during COVID,” he said, which is why he switched to tennis.
During Hahn’s recruitment process, he “reached out to a lot of coaches, [and he] had to play for some of the coaches and tape recordings to put on my recruiting profile.” Luckily, one school that got back to him happened to be his top choice—Messiah University, which he chose because he “wanted to play tennis, a good engineering program, and wanted to be relatively close [to home],” he added.
Hahn started his freshman year in QO tennis playing second doubles and first doubles, and his junior year playing third singles. He continues to “aim as high as [he] can” during his final year.
Taking a dive into another individual sport, senior Ainsley Taylor announced her commitment on social media to NYU’s swim program this past fall. She has been swimming since the age of four, beginning on her summer swim team, then moving to a club team once she knew she wanted to get serious.
Colleges began reaching out to Taylor the summer after sophomore year, and once she was able to form relationships with coaches, she narrowed her list down to two contrasting schools: one, a quiet, mid-sized college surrounded by acres of forest land; the other, a busy, large university, located in the middle of a city known to never fall asleep.
When Taylor was making the final decision, it all came down to where she could see herself being the most successful.
“I didn’t really know what I wanted, but seeing it in person helped my decision,” she added. When touring NYU, the class sizes, athletic facilities, and amenities made the choice easy for her.
Besides swimming for neighborhood and club teams, Taylor has been on QO’s swim and dive team for three years. During her sophomore year, she broke the 50 free record and won Divisionals the following year. Once she became a captain her junior and senior years, the team really started to come together and feel like a family to her.
In Maryland, QO is widely known for its elite football program, and within it there are many players who are willing to go above and beyond at the collegiate level, such as senior Adjatay “DJ” Abegesah, who has committed to play football at Stonehill College.
Abegesah has been playing football for most of his life. However, what he describes as the “scariest hit ever” forced him to stop playing. Last year, he picked it back up and has been lifting in the summer to get in shape.
For football, it’s very common for college coaches to come learn about the players, and assess their skills throughout the season. “It’s a lot of patience and faith because nothing is guaranteed,” said Abegesah.
Abagesah’s top two choices were a Division III school and Stonehill, a Division I school. He considered this choice as “an easy decision” for that reason. Another factor that drove Abegesah to play at Stonehill was the amount of money offered, covering most of his tuition.
During his time playing football at QO, Abegesah set himself as a good example for the younger players on varsity. “I be disciplined and work hard, and never complain about nothing,” he added.
Abegesah would like to acknowledge his dad, who went through the same process. His dad played Division I football at Texas Southern University. “[My dad] helped me keep my head straight and stay focused,” he said.
Abegesah believes that the amount of playing time received in college is relatively more difficult than receiving playing time in high school because of how “everyone is good [on the college team],” he said.
One of the many dominant teams here at QO is the girls soccer team, which counted multiple athletic commits this year. One is senior Arielle Goodluck, who will be attending Goucher College in the fall.
Goodluck is the oldest of her siblings, so she felt lost throughout the beginning of her recruiting process due to not having someone to turn to for questions. She mentioned getting a late start to the process as a whole, but because Goodluck is such a skilled player, she had multiple offers to choose from.
When picking Goucher, she not only took the soccer program into account, but her education as well. “I propel my future over anything and this has the perfect pathway to allow me to do so,” Goodluck said.
During her time with QO girls soccer, Goodluck was a part of the squad that made it to the state championship her junior year, and went undefeated senior year.
Throughout her soccer career, Goodluck says her parents have been her “sole motivators and helpers through it all.”
With regards to committing to play a sport in college, Goodluck urges younger athletes to keep a positive mindset and “work hard and grind to the point that your confidence never falters.”
Back in September 2023, senior Jake Witter announced on his Instagram that he committed to play baseball at Salisbury University. Witter has been playing baseball since 2nd grade. He credits persistence through adversity as his reason for success. “When I was young, I wasn’t necessarily the best,” he admitted, “but I stayed persistent and kept working to get to where I am now.”
He described Salisbury as having “a great program, great coaching staff, and a winning mentality.”
Every year, Salisbury competes for a World Series, which is what strengthened Witter’s interest in this school. This season, Salisbury is currently ranked 2nd in the NCAA Division III league for baseball.
Witter described his recruiting process as “tough.”
“I had to email a lot of schools,” he said. “Sometimes you won’t get responses but you have to keep going.” He also revealed that he had to attend a lot of showcases.
During Witter’s time playing QO baseball, he brought “a great work ethic and trie[d] to help the younger kids” in the program [to] show them what it takes to be a good varsity player,” he said.
Witter would like to thank his parents for supporting him and especially head baseball coach and art teacher Corey Simko, who has helped him throughout his time at QO. “He knows how to bring a team together and has taught me a lot about the game,” he said.
March 2024
The Prowler 