LCHS student athletes sign letters of intent for college

[May 04, 2018] 

Recently nine Lincoln Community High School Athletes announced their choices of colleges, where they will participate in collegiate sports. On Wednesday afternoon eight of the nine attended a signing ceremony at the high school. The ceremony is an opportunity for parents, teachers, coaches, teammates, and friends to celebrate with the athletes the choices made for the future.

Students participating in the signing event included Aleck Bailey, Grace Bossingham, Ryan Boyd, Tabitha Cooley, Kennedy and Morgan Lolling, Kerstin Osborne, and Ali Wilson. Tearaney Eads was unable to attend.

Each student submitted a biography that was read aloud, then the individual student was brought up to the signing table where they signed their letter of intent while family members looked on.

Aleck Bailey

Aleck is the son of Robert and Jennifer Bailey and will be attending Lincoln College where he plans to play soccer and major in Sports or Business Management.

Bailey has had a very impressive high school athletics career breaking six school records. He was Most Valuable Player three times, CS8 All-Conference twice, and al All State selection twice. He was also Apollo All-Conference, CS8 Academic All-Conference three times. He was named State Journal Register Best of Prep, Chicago Fire All-Academic, All Star Team, Offensive Award twice and the Mid-field award.

Bailey says he chose Lincoln College because, “They have a good soccer team, and it is close to home. Also, Class sizes are smaller.

In addition to soccer, Bailey’s other activities include Baseball, National Honor Society, Yearbook Staff, Church Usher, and he is a member of the Lincoln Futbol Club.

Grace Bossingham

Grace is the daughter of Nate and Angie Bossingham. She has signed to attend Lincoln College where she will play volleyball, and major in Special Education.

She played volleyball for LCHS all four years of her high school career. She is a member of the National Honor Society and was also a member of Freshman Academy.

Bossingham said she chose Lincoln College because, “it is close to my family and class sizes are smaller.

Ryan Boyd

Ryan Boyd is the son of Rod and Donna Boyd. He has signed a letter of intent to play soccer at Lincoln College and has not yet decided on his major.

Boyd played soccer for LCHS all four years of his high school career. He was awarded CS8 Academic All-Conference.

His other activities include Student Government and National Honor Society.

Boyd said he chose Lincoln College because, “I am not quite sure on what I want to study yet and Lincoln College gives me the opportunity to try new things while I play soccer.”

Tabitha Cooley

Tabitha Cooley is the daughter of Dennis and Debbie Cooley. She will be attending Augustana College where she plans to participate in Track & Field and will major in Neuroscience and Spanish.

Cooley participated in the Track & Field program at LCHS all four years of her high school career. She earned CS8 Academic All-Conference as well as Apollo Academic All-Conference.

Other activities during her high school years include wrestling statistician, Swim and Dive team, National Honor Society, National and International mission work, Relay for Life of Logan County and is active as a volunteer at the First United Methodist Church.

Cooley chose Augustana because, “Augie was perfect because their campus made me feel at home, they offer many opportunities for hands-on research even for underclassmen. Ever since I first stepped on campus the people at Augie treated me like family.”

Tearaney Eads

Tearaney Eads, the daughter of Ryan and Rhonda Eads was unable to attend the signing event.

She submitted her biography saying that she will be attending Carl Sandburg College where she will play volleyball and major in accounting.

She played volleyball one year at LCHS and earned Apollo 2nd Team All-Conference.

Eads said she chose Carl Sandburg because, “it is not too far from home, plus I really like their coach and players.”

Kennedy Lolling
Morgan Lolling

Sisters Kennedy and Morgan Lolling came to the stage together along with their parents Kyle and Jenny Lolling. While the girls are playing different sports, both signed letters of intent to attend Lincoln College.

Kennedy will be playing basketball for the school and is currently undecided on her major.

Kennedy has played basketball at LCHS all four years of her high school career. She was named a Most Valuable Player in 2015, and Defensive player in 2016 and 2016.

In addition to basketball, Kennedy also played volleyball in high school.

She said that she chose Lincoln College because, “I get to keep playing basketball and I get to stay close to home.

Morgan will be playing volleyball at Lincoln College and is currently undecided on her major.

She played volleyball for LCHS all four years of her high school career, and earned 2nd in CS8 Conference for most assists in 2015-16. Morgan also enjoys playing basketball and did so while attending LCHS.

She said she chose Lincoln College because, “It is close to home and it feels like home. They recruited me to play volleyball there and the scholarships were good.”

Kerstin Osborne

Kerstin is the daughter of Donnie and Dawn Osborne. She has signed her letter of intent to attend Lincoln College where she will play Softball. Osborne plans to major in English and become an English teacher.

She played softball at LCHS all four years of her high school career and earned CS8 All-Conference, Most Valuable Player, and Best Field Awards.

Osborn says she chose Lincoln College because, “I can stay home and commute. I can play college softball while being around family and still pursue my college education.

Ali Wilson

Ali Wilson, the daughter of Loren and Carol Wilson has signed to play golf for Lakeland University while pursuing a major in Sports Management and Leadership.

Wilson has played golf for LCHS all four years of her high school career. She earned the New Comer Award, Regional Champions, and School Record for Low Team Score. She was a State Qualifier twice, earned CS8 All-Conference, SC8 Academic All-Conference, Apollo All-Conference, Most Valuable Player, Railerman Sportsmanship Award three times and was a 4-year varsity member.

Her other activities and interest include National Honor Society, Leaf Club, 4-H Mentoring, Tutoring, Future Business Leaders of America.

Wilson said she chose Lakeland University because, “Everyone on campus is very welcoming and friendly. It felt like home right away. Academically, the sport management program is the best I looked at and they offer many opportunities to their students. Athletically, Coach Amber is building the program and I wanted to be a part of it. The team is also close and I liked that.

Congratulations to all these students. We wish them all the best as they prepare to move into a new chapter in their educational and athletic careers.

[Photos by Mitch Douglas with information from LCHS]