W.T. Woodson honored student athletes in a college commitment signing ceremony on May 27, ending the recruitment journey for 37 Cavaliers.
Participating in nearly every sport Woodson has to offer, the 37 former college recruits, now upcoming freshman, will be going to schools such as Boston University and the University of Chicago.
For some of the athletes, the signing ceremony was the end of a long recruiting process that took months, sometimes years.
Some exceptions exist, however. Track runner Patrick Taylor was one of the few who never expected to be signing an athletic letter of intent for any sport in his career.
"This is just awesome," he said. "I never expected to be here. At the beginning of the year, I was just trying to get a letter for track."
Taylor will be joining the U.S. Military Academy at West Point's track team next year.
"I was looking at Rutgers, but then West Point contacted me," he said. "I decided to take the free education and save my parents money. I wanted to go into the military anyway."
George Mason University tennis recruit Michael Phaup said the ceremony helped shed some light on his tennis team, which he said can be overshadowed by other popular sports.
"I've worked with tennis all my life," he said. "So it feels really good to be recognized because tennis isn't a really well known sport.
While some students see college as a chance to get away from home, Phaup said he had GMU penciled in as his top choice throughout the recruiting process.
"George Mason was my No. 1 choice," he said. "I really had my hopes up about Mason. I'm not one of those guys who wants to leave home right away."
Lacrosse recruit Emily Whitman, who will attend Longwood University, said that the event helped her realize how many of her peers were going to play sports at the next level.
"It's nice to see everyone from our grade and see where everyone is going," she said. "We've had really strong sports teams this year, too."
While the ceremony honored the class of 2010, University of Massachusetts soccer recruit Sagie Madnick said that the athletes' accomplishments would help strengthen Woodson sports in the future.
"Even though we were here for four years, we're setting the standard for future generations," he said.