McNary Athletics

Putting pen to paper

On Wednesday, 19 McNary student athletes made it official. With family, friends, teammates, coaches and staff in the gym, they sat at tables at center court, pens in hand, and signed their letters of intent to play and attend school at the next level. 

“It’s great when we’re able to honor and celebrate all of our student athletes here,” McNary Athletic Director Scott Gragg said. “Many times this is a dream for them to be able to play at the next level.” 

They’ll span two coasts, six states and 15 schools in the fall. 

Eleven will stay in Oregon, making the move to schools like Linfield University (Lacey Vasas and Bella Rodriguez), Pacific University (Hunter Ruberto), George Fox University (Peyton Olafson, Emily Blagg and Jackson Alt), Willamette University (Tessa Fisher) and the University of Portland (Madison Corpe), as well as Chemeketa (Sydnee Alfano), Lane (Brody Roth) and Umpqua (Brissa Lopez) community colleges. 

For four of them, the trip is just one state over, with plans to attend in Washington (Brudson Hunk – Gonzaga, Heather Ebner – St. Martin’s University) or California (Josh Friesen – Simpson University, Anthony Cepeda – Feather River College), while one goes just a little further into Montana (Brookelynn Jackson – Carroll College). 

Three of them probably won’t be driving home to do laundry as they head to schools in Louisiana (Colby Sullivan – Southeastern Louisiana) and South Carolina (Kaden and Kyler Donahue – Limestone University). 

Teammates will shift to rivals, as Tessa Fisher and Peyton Olafson will both be in the Northwest Athletic Conference at Willamette and George Fox respectively. 

For some, bonds that are forged deeper than teammates will continue to grow, as twin brothers Kaden and Kyler Donahue are both heading to Limestone University to play lacrosse. 

“We’re ready to go there and work hard and show what Oregon’s all about,” Kyler said. 

While it seems like a perfect plan, the brothers didn’t always plan on going to the same school. 

“I talked to the coach first, I told him I had a twin brother who was a great athlete, and immediately started talking to him, and it worked out perfectly,” Kyler said.