Three sign scholarships

Samantha Wainright
ECB Publishing, Inc.

On Tuesday, May 4, three seniors at Aucilla Christian Academy (ACA) signed their letters of intent to continue their student-athlete careers throughout college. Keira Evans, Anna Lee Trest and Maddie Drawdy took the stage as their friends, families, teachers and coaches gathered in the auditorium on Aucilla's campus to celebrate their accomplishments.

Keira Evans signed to rodeo (barrel race) for Southern Arkansas University (SAU) while also receiving the SAU Distinguished Presidential Academic Scholarship. She has been rodeoing for the last ten years and has won numerous titles and buckles, one of the most notable ones being named the 2019 Professional Cowboy's Association High School Barrel Racing Champion.

Anna Lee Trest signed to play volleyball at Florida State College of Jacksonville. She played six seasons of volleyball. Her senior year consisted of 57 sets. She tallied 139 kills, 36 solo blocks, 22 aces and 100 serving points during her senior year.

Maddie Drawdy signed to play volleyball at Oglethorpe University in the Atlanta area. She played a total of 194 sets during her four-season volleyball career as a Lady Warrior. Her other career stats include 774 total assists, which equates to four assists per set; 160 aces, 591 digs and 583 kill-shots. Drawdy also had a total of 570 serving points.

All three girls played volleyball during their senior year, at Aucilla, so their coach, Cathy Rogers, took the stage to say a few words about how special each of the girls really are. She spoke of their perseverance, their grace, their dedication to growth and progress and her complete confidence in the success that they would all achieve during their collegiate athletic careers. Through held back tears, she thanked God for all that these ladies had become and all of the greatness she knew would be ahead of them.

Each of the signing students were also given an opportunity to speak on their experiences at ACA over the years and offer thanks to the many people who had helped them along the way. The very first sentence from each of these incredible students was, "I just want to thank God."

Through their time at Aucilla they had been taught to recognize where all good things come from. They thanked their families for the sacrifices and investments made to help them reach this next level. They recognized the hard work of their coaches and the value of attending a school where they are loved, and more importantly, where they learned just how much God loves them and will be right by their side each step of this new journey.
Congratulations ladies and may God bless you in the exciting days ahead!