Dreyfoos Students are Recruited to Division 1 for Their Athletic Abilities

When students think about Dreyfoos sports they begin to spew laughter, but now colleges are thinking of Dreyfoos sports and are spewing scholarships. Although this may be unbelieveable, the amount of students that will be leaving this campus with an acceptance letter and a scholarship to a Division I school for their athletic abilities is baffling.

Breast Stroke to the Best School

County silver medalist in the 100m freestyle and keyboard senior Abigail Schirmer wants to continue swimming throughout college.

“UNC Asheville and University of Miami are both schools that have directly recruited me,” Schirmer said. “There are some other smaller schools that I have gotten calls from [too], such as John Carroll University and Boston College.”

Schirmer swims for the Dreyfoos team and loves to participate in swimming freestyle. She takes about 17 to 20 hours of her week and devotes it to swimming. She swims before school from 5:30 a.m. to 7:00 a.m., after school until 7:00 p.m. and even on Saturdays from 8:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the morning.

Over the summer Schirmer placed first in the 200m freestyle at the St. Andrews Invitational and was a member of the team that won the Speedo sectionals in Orlando. With swimming taking up most of her life, she is motivated to overcome the struggles that come with swimming.

“Not only do you consume your body with swimming and training, but mentally it is a lot to handle,” Schirmer said. “That is what motivates me, improving both mentally and physically.”

Although she spends her time with schoolwork, the Dreyfoos team and her club team at St. Andrews, she was still able to escape the school campuses and visit an offering college, UNC Asheville.

“Asheville was great, it was a great school, it was very different but also very similar to Dreyfoos in a lot of ways,” Schirmer said. “It was [a] very artsy, very cute little town and it was beautiful but I’m keeping my options open.”

While in Asheville, Schirmer enjoyed meeting the coaches and team members, and viewing a swim team practice.

“Recruiting is an exciting time,” Schirmer said. “It is a really stressful process, but at the same time it is really fun and interesting.”

Stealing Bases for Scholarships

Although Dreyfoos does not have a baseball team, visual senior Robert Langdon finds way to express his inner athleticism by playing in baseball leagues outside of school. Instead of playing on a travel team Langdon practices individually and then plays on two showcase teams, the South Florida Bandits and South East Show, which he plays for only in tournaments.

“Showcase teams are made for recruiters,” Langdon said. “They are able to see our individual abilities and can choose us based on how we play in tournaments.”

Langdon has been playing baseball since he was seven and is ranked in the top three second baseman in Florida and in the top 16 second baseman in the nation by PerfectGame.org.

“I was selected as honorable mention All-American for Perfect Game, which is a very prestigious recruiting company,” Langdon said.

Although Langdon has been given offers from numerous other Division I schools, he verbally committed to Appalachian State in Boone, North Carolina to pursue his college baseball career as a Mountaineer. Appalachian State offered Langdon a place on the team as a walk-on, where he would play for the team but wouldn’t receive a paid tuition.

“I just went on my official visit to Appalachian state, where they pay for your flight and they pay for where you stay,” Langdon said. “Then you meet up with a player and you hang out with them, go to parties, go to football games, they show you around and you stay with them a night. It’s a fun time.”

Even with Division I heading his way Langdon is unsure of what he is going to do after he graduates from college.

“I don’t know if I will play baseball after college, it depends on whether I get drafted or not,” Langdon said. “Most division one athletes do get drafted, so if I do get drafted I would probably go for it.”