BOZEMAN — The first batch of college athletes from Bozeman Gallatin gained 10 new members Wednesday, as the final signing day ceremony of the year took place in the second-year school’s gymnasium.
The afternoon was filled with celebratory balloons and pennants along with a mixture of emotions as the athletes signed their official paperwork and saw their future get one step closer.
“Not a lot of people go on to do college sports, and I think it speaks really well to the programs that we offer at Gallatin High,” said Aeden DeGraw, who signed to swim at Lynn University, an NCAA Division II program in Boca Raton, Florida. “The coaching staff for, I assume, all sports is amazing. It’s amazing, at least, for the swimming. It speaks volumes to the program and the culture we’ve created here.”
DeGraw initially wasn’t sure if swimming in college was a possibility for him. But once he received a full tuition academic scholarship at Lynn, he reached out to the coaches and a swimming offer soon followed.
“It was always something where if it worked out, I would go for it,” DeGraw said. “I loved the coaches, and I loved the team.”
Similarly, Peter Rehberger didn’t expect to run in college until “relatively recently.” It was a special moment to commit to Carroll College for cross country and track and field.
“I’m really grateful they reached out,” Rehberger said. “I’m really excited to do it. A little nervous too, but I think it’ll be fine. I’m just excited for the opportunity to do it.”
Also going to Carroll College is Molly O’Connor, who signed to play volleyball.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to play college volleyball, and once I got closer to making the decision I was kind of hesitant on it,” she said. “It’s a big commitment, but on this day I’m super excited. I know I made the right decision. I’m excited to continue playing volleyball because I have so much love for the sport.”
Several other athletes spoke of their longstanding desires to compete beyond high school.
Josie Neal has been a competitive cheerleader with Bozeman’s Motion Athletics since she was in kindergarten. She signed to be a member of the stunt team at Arizona State — a spot she earned after two days of tryouts in April.
“I’m so beyond excited and thankful for this opportunity from my coaches and my gym at home,” Neal said. “It’s going to be scary at first probably because it’s so new, but I’m looking forward to it.”
The enormity of the moment was not lost on the athletes, who used the day to reflect on all of their hard work.
“It’s been a really exciting day for me and my family,” said Nolan Gyselman. “It’s been very, very hard to get here, and I’m just proud of myself for getting to this point.”
Gyselman said he knew he wanted to play college basketball since his very first high school game. He signed to play at Midland University, which is located in Fremont, Nebraska, and competes in the NAIA’s Great Plains Athletic Conference.
“They have good facilities and a great coaching staff that I connected with the best,” Gyselman said.
Corbin Holzer will also compete in the GPAC when he takes the field for the University of Jamestown (North Dakota) baseball team. Fellow Bozeman Bucks teammate Andrew Western signed with Walla Walla Community College in Washington. Both players spoke of the difficulties of getting recruited while only playing an American Legion season, as opposed to also having a high school season.
“You’ve got to search a lot harder. You’ve got to reach out a lot more rather than people coming to you,” Western said. “I feel like a lot of pressure is off my shoulders now. I just get to play baseball and have fun.”
Added Holzer: “It’s kind of every kid’s dream to go play somewhere for college, I feel like. Knowing that you want to go play somewhere just makes you work hard and put in the effort and the time to really push yourself.”
Garret Coley is staying closest to home, as he signed to compete in track and field at Montana State. It was particularly fun for him to sign with the Bobcats after both the men’s and women’s teams placed second at the Big Sky Conference Outdoor Championships over the weekend.
“It’s awesome knowing that I have the opportunity to compete on this high-level team,” he said. “They just performed out of their minds at conference. To be a part of that competitive team, that’s all I’ve wanted going into this upcoming year.”
The Raptors track and field program will be further represented by David Seymour, who will also run cross country at Menlo College, an NAIA program in Atherton, California. Seymour said he enjoyed his visit in January and had an instant connection with the team and coaches.
“The community as a whole felt like a family, and that’s what cross country and track feels like, so that’s why I was drawn there the most,” he said.
Seymour added it was a “relief” putting the college search process behind him. He said he is at peace “knowing I’m going somewhere I can thrive as an athlete and a scholar and a person in general. I just feel like it’s going to set me up to be a successful person in life.”
Like others present for the festivities, Seymour marveled at the number of athletes coming out of Gallatin in the first graduating class. A few other signing days were held throughout the year.
“It says a lot about the coaching staff and the culture we have here,” he said. “We have so much talent in every sport that we have. It’s really incredible to see everybody pursue their dreams and continue their goals in life and in college.”
That topic of Gallatin’s culture was a popular one. Melaina Springer, who is off to play lacrosse at NCAA Division III Adrian College in Michigan, said Gallatin’s collective grit can be seen all over the school and its athletic teams — especially when considering the effects the COVID-19 pandemic had in the school’s first two years of being open.
“I myself lost a season (in lacrosse), lots of people lost seasons,” she said. “It’s really empowering to know that we’re still able to work hard enough to get up to the collegiate level.”
It helps, Springer added, that Gallatin’s environment is based on the premise of “building people up.”
“I wouldn’t be where I am without my team. Not even just my lacrosse team, but my basketball team too,” she said. “Going through those hardships in basketball, we won one game, but all those experiences that we’ve had here, wins and losses with teammates, it’s all accumulated to make us the athletes that we are and send us where we’re going.”
The first group of athletes to come from Gallatin helped lay a foundation for the school and show what the path to college sports looks like. Few things could have prepared them better for this next part of their lives than helping open a new school and creating a winning culture.
“When you go to play college athletics, you’re definitely taking the next step. I think at Gallatin they’ve trained us to take that next step,” O’Connor said. “It’s a really big commitment. It takes a lot of hard work. But we’ve also spent so much hard work here that I don’t think it’s as scary really.”