Signing Day

Six Jesuit High School senior athletes, including five baseball players, signed with the colleges of their choice Wednesday (Nov. 11) at an early morning signing ceremony in the President's Board Room on campus.

Family, friends, and coaches packed the room as Jesuit president Fr. Richard C. Hermes, S.J., and athletic director Terry Rupp ’84 offered congratulations. They also encouraged the signees to continue striving, and to be leaders among their peers for the remainder of their high school careers and into college.

The six Jesuit athletes who signed Letters of Intent on Wednesday:

• Nico Baldor - baseball, Miami
• Clayton Kwiatkowski - baseball, Florida State
• Nick Ortega -  baseball, Creighton
• Matt Ruel -  golf, Mississippi
• Michael Sandborn -  baseball, Vanderbilt
• Adam Weekley - baseball, Furman

The baseball players have helped the Tigers win three District titles during their time at Jesuit, and capture the Class 5A State Championship in 2014. Sandborn, Weekley, and Ortega all played key roles in the title drive that spring. Ruel is a three-time District golf champion, and last month he placed second at the Class 2A state tournament.

For the second straight year, Jesuit baseball teammates have signed with renowned rivals, as Baldor and Kwiatkowski will become part of the famed Miami-FSU rivalry, a year after Cole Gibbs '15 and Kennie Taylor '15 signed with North Carolina and Duke, respectively.

This was the first of three college signing ceremonies scheduled at Jesuit for 2015-16. The second and third will take place in February and April. Each year, about 20-30 Jesuit student-athletes sign Letters of Intent to participate in college athletics.

See video of the ceremony, an interview with Sandborn, and a photo slideshow below: