PREP BRIEFS: Edgewood players announce college plans; Rizzo signs soccer scholly; MA tennis tops St. James
Edgewood coach Chad Michael announces the school’s signees at a special ceremony on Wednesday. (Tim Gayle)
COMBINED REPORTS
ELMORE -- Edgewood Academy quarterback Austin Champion entered his senior season, wondering if he would have an opportunity to continue his football career in college.
“Going into my senior year, I didn’t have any offers,” Champion said, “so I was definitely a little worried about not being here (at a signing ceremony). As the season went on, I picked up those two (offers) and I’m really excited. It’s a dream come true today.”
Champion, along with seniors Elena Adams, Anna Guillot and Karlee Mainor, were honored on Wednesday with a signing ceremony at the school as the four accepted offers to continue playing at the college level.
“We take great pride in how we perform athletically, but also we want people to say we do things the right way and these four have always done things the right way,” Edgewood athletic director Chad Michael said. “Today, they’re reaping the benefits of how they’ve done things.”
Champion, who announced he would be playing football at Division III Huntingdon College, has passed for 4,312 yards and 55 touchdowns the past two years.
“Those stats don’t tell who Austin is and how good a player he is,” said Michael, his football coach. “In our system, we put a lot of pressure on the quarterback. He’s got a lot of decisions to make. Playing quarterback has not been easy, especially for me, especially in practice. We put a lot on him and how he performed the last two years has been amazing. What makes Austin great is he’s a great person.”
Champion weighed offers from Birmingham Southern and Huntingdon College before electing to play for the Hawks.
Adams, who played volleyball for just one season at Edgewood, had 154 kills, 60 blocks and 24 aces in helping the Wildcats to a state championship. She will play collegiately at Cottey College, an NAIA private school in Missouri.
“I’m super excited to start this new chapter of my life at Cottey,” she said, “and I can’t wait to see what this new program holds for me. I’m super thankful for (Cottey College) Coach Marla (Foreman) for giving me this opportunity and I’m super excited to get started.”
Mainor, who will play volleyball at Lees-McRae College, a Division II private school in North Carolina, had 242 kills, 45 blocks and 76 aces this past season and was selected as an AISA all-star.
“I want to give a special thanks to the coaches which really believed in me and encouraged me to make it to the next level,” Mainor said. “I want to thank the Lees-McRae family for always making me feel welcome and for giving me the opportunity to continue playing the sport I love.”
Guillot was an offensive star for the Wildcats in her first year on the softball team in 2022, hitting .390 with 48 hits and 40 RBIs. She accepted an offer to play softball at Chattahoochee Valley Community College in Phenix City.
Guillot thanked “all my friends who have made this sport so fun and making games seem a lot easier and to CVCC for letting my pursue my college career.”
Rizzo signs with UAB soccer
Lucas Rizzo signed his letter of intent to play soccer at UAB recently, reuniting with a school he had discovered several years ago at a summer soccer camp.
“When I was 11 or 12, they had summer camps for soccer,” he said. “I got a feel for it then, what the program was about. I’ve always stuck with them, kept up with them. It’s a different coaching staff from when I was 12, but it’s the same kind of feel.”
Rizzo checks all the boxes for the Blazers, earning team most valuable player honors with the Eagles’ varsity as an eighth grader. After competing with the Eagles as a freshman, Rizzo spent his sophomore and juniors years with the MLS Academy in Columbus, Ohio, playing for the Columbus Crew and honing his abilities in a variety of positions, including as an attacking midfielder.
“I went there for two years and then decided to come back for my senior year,” Rizzo said. “I was going with the mentality that I wanted to become a professional. They have a beautiful facility. They push you every day, so I definitely came back well rounded, playing positions I had never played before.”
First-year Montgomery Academy coach Matheus Mello knew about Rizzo and his older brother Thomas long before he accepted a job to coach the younger brother at Montgomery Academy.
“I was looking for players to do private lessons for and everybody was talking about these two brothers, Lucas and Thomas Rizzo, that they were amazing,” Mello said. “Soon enough, I got to meet them and I could see with my own eyes that they were very talented.
“He’s a great example on the field, always follows directions, always willing to do the work and work hard. You don’t find many players with that talent that also work hard on the field.”
Rizzo is happy to put Wednesday’s decision behind him and concentrate on leading the Eagles to a successful season this spring.
MA boys tennis tops St. James
The Montgomery Academy boys’ tennis team won their third consecutive match on Wednesday, defeating St. James 8-1 at O’Connor Tennis Center.
In singles, No. 1 Whit Davis shut out Josh Harvey (6-0, 6-0), No. 3 John Alford defeated Danny Trock (6-2, 6-4), No. 4 Jackson Brown beat Ryan Jeong (6-1, 6-0), No. 5 Ford Morano defeated Jason Jeong (6-1, 6-2) and No. 6 Edwin Wu beat Grayson Eaves (6-4, 6-2).
St. James picked up its lone match at No. 2 singles as Toba Rios defeated Charlie Hill (6-4, 6-1).
In doubles, the Eagles swept the matches as No. 1 Davis-Hill edged Harvey-Rios 8-6, No. 2 Alford-Brown defeated Trock and Ryan Jeong 8-1 and Ron Sharma and Morano defeated Jason Jeong and Eaves 8-1 at No. 3.
Montgomery Academy (4-1) will travel to Dothan on Thursday to play Houston Academy.