A Colorado State visor sets before a signing Feb. 6 at Gateway High School. Golditch was honored at a national athletic letter of intent signing ceremony. The 6-foot-5, 260-pound Golditch signed to play at Colorado State. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)
National Letter of Intent signing day
Smoky Hill seniors Rachael Chacko, left, Jeff Gillis, center, and Candace Cephers pose after a national athletic letter of intent ceremony on Feb. 6 at Smoky Hill High School. Chacko will run at Princeton, Gillis is set to play soccer at Metro State and Cephers is headed to play soccer at Virginia Tech (Courtney Oakes/Aurora Sentinel)

AURORA | As little boys, Eric Garcia and Tanner Gentry made plans that they would grow up into Division I athletes.

That day has arrived — perhaps quicker than they expected — on Feb. 6 as the two best friends were part of a group of 12 athletes honored at national letter of intent signing ceremony at Grandview High School.

Garcia is headed to play basketball next season at Wofford University, while Gentry will suit up for the football team at Wyoming.

“It was great having us both here together, we’ve always dreamed about this,” said Garcia, who actually signed his letter in November. “We were in elementary school when we started to play football together and things like that. People told us we couldn’t do it, but we just kept pushing each other.”

Gentry is one of two Aurora football players headed to play at Wyoming, joining Eaglecrest safety Xavier Lewis, who signed a few miles away.

He’d been waiting for signing day for awhile, but it really hit Gentry when he was sitting at the table with the other athletes from football, baseball, basketball and soccer.

“I remember thinking it was going to be so far away, then the day comes and you’re official,” said Gentry, who also plays with Garcia on Grandview’s basketball team. “It feels good, but it’s crazy to think about.”

Smoky Hill honored a small, but outstanding group at its early morning ceremony.

A pair of soccer stars firmed up their commitments, as Candace Cephers is headed to Virginia Tech and Jeff Gillis will play at Metro State. Distance star Rachael Chacko feels she’s found the perfect place to continue her running career and her academics at Princeton.

Around the country, football was the most anticipated group of signees and it was big around Aurora.

Besides Gentry and Lewis heading to Wyoming, Gateway’s Zack Golditch joined the Division I ranks as he confirmed his commitment to Colorado State.

The 6-foot-5, 260-pound offensive lineman signed his letter of intent in the morning and sent it up to Fort Collins and then was honored in an afternoon ceremony.

A Colorado State visor sets before a signing Feb. 6 at Gateway High School. Golditch was honored at a national athletic letter of intent signing ceremony. The 6-foot-5, 260-pound Golditch signed to play at Colorado State. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)
Gateway senior lineman Zack Golditch signs a national athletic letter of intent with Colorado State, Feb. 6 at Gateway High School. The 6-foot-5, 260-pound Golditch signed to play at Colorado State. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)
Gateway senior lineman Zack Golditch excitedly dons a Colorado State visor, Feb. 6 at Gateway High School. Golditch was honored at a national athletic letter of intent signing ceremony. The 6-foot-5, 260-pound Golditch signed to play at Colorado State. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)
Gateway senior lineman Zack Golditch answers questions from the press, Feb. 6 at Gateway High School. Golditch was honored at a national athletic letter of intent signing ceremony. The 6-foot-5, 260-pound Golditch signed to play at Colorado State. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)

Regis Jesuit’s large ceremony included a glittering group with many Division I signees, including Texas-bound swimming star Clark Smith, University of Denver lacrosse signee Brian Wegner and UC-Santa Barbara-b0und shortstop Brody Weiss, son of former Regis Jesuit coach and current Colorado Rockies manager Walt Weiss.

Reach Sports Editor Courtney Oakes at sports@aurorasentinel.com or 303-750-7555

AURORA NATIONAL LETTER OF INTENT SIGNINGS/HONOREES (FEB. 6)

CHEROKEE TRAIL: Matt Barden, football, Chadron State; Drick Bernstine, basketball, Denver; Jackson Burrell, football, Mesa State; Emily Burton, soccer, Western State; Lyndsey Knabenshue, softball, West Texas A&M; Kayla Slofkiss, volleyball, Wyoming; Jordan Smith, baseball, Trinidad; Ryan Winke, football, Western State; Morgan Worthington, softball, Colby Community College; Garrett Zimmerman, football, Western State

EAGLECREST: Symon Fabbricatore, soccer, Adams State; Marcus Harris, track, Colorado State; Josh Johnson, football, Chadron State; Xavier Lewis, football, Wyoming; Austin Marques, soccer, Woldorf College; Andrew Martinez, soccer, Adams State; Armando Perez, soccer, Laramie County Community College; Sean Watkins, football, Chadron State; TreShawn Wilford, basketball, UC-Colorado Springs

GATEWAY: Josh Butler, football, TBA; Adrian Estrada, soccer, Western Nebraska; Zack Golditch, football, Colorado State; David Hernandez, soccer, Western Nebraska; Cristian Valadez, soccer, Western Nebraska

GRANDVIEW: Christian Backes, football, Northern Colorado; Austin Butterfield, football, Kansas State University (walk-on); Austin Fleer, football, Colorado Mesa University; Eric Garcia, basketball, Wofford; Tanner Gentry, football, Wyoming; Ashley Germann, soccer, Minnesota St. University Moorhead; Josh Huntley, baseball, Brown; Erin Kemp, basketball, Black Hills State; Kevin Noto, cross country/track, South Dakota School of Mines; Adaeze Obinnah, basketball, Rice; Eric Olguin, baseball, Salt Lake City Community College; Jake Thurston, baseball, Metro State; Brad Walcher, football, Colorado School of Mines

OVERLAND: Aaron Charleston, football, Fort Hays State; Brianna Pardner, track, Northern Colorado; Amer Tipura, football, TBD

RANGEVIEW: Madison Austin, softball, Brown Mackie (Kan.) College; Patrique Hall, football, Fort Lewis; Amanda Maestas, volleyball, Western State; Jordan Medina, track & field, Northern Colorado; Darnell Moye, football, Fort Hays State; Kyle Mudick, football, Chadron State; Victor Steele, football, Fort Hays State; Allie Walker, volleyball, Western State

REGIS JESUIT: Boys Division — Erik Biernat, swimming, Xavier; Antonio Broadus, football, Indiana State; Cole Cunningham, golf, Grand Canyon University; Nick DePuy, UC-Santa Barbara; Justin Finley, lacrosse, Dominican University; Sebastian Harris, football, Benedictine; Blake Knobloch, lacrosse, Jacksonville University; Ian Shelton, soccer, Claremont McKenna College; Clark Smith, swimming, Texas; Zach Suter, swimming, Seton Hall; Connor Warren, football; Brody Weiss, baseball, UC-Santa Barbara; Brian Wegner, lacrosse, Denver; Sean Whitley, football, Loras (Iowa) College; Girls Division — Courtney Baltizar, soccer, Shepherd (W.Va.) University; Abby Cutler, swimming, Butler University; Shannon Harpham, soccer, Fort Lewis; Ana Holland, track, Virginia; Meghan Kilkenny, soccer, Colorado College; Lindsay Kriz, swimming, Johns Hopkins University

SMOKY HILL: Candace Cephers, soccer, Virginia Tech; Rachael Chacko, cross country, Princeton; Jeff Gillis, soccer, Metro State; Dan Kasberg, cross country/wrestling, Naval Academy

Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor and photographer with Sentinel Colorado. A Denver East High School and University of Colorado alum. He came to the Sentinel in 2001 and since then has received a number...