COLUMN: Catching up with collegians

     If you are on social media, you probably have seen posts about former Monticello High School athletes who are competing in college sports.

     With winter sports over, and the full bloom of spring sports not yet upon us, I came up with an idea: I would track these people down and see how they are doing, and run a nice little feature about these former Panthers.

     Thanks to the miracle of the Internet, information and statistics about each one are readily available, so this did not seem like a daunting task.

     I mean, how tough could it be? How many are there, anyway? Six? Eight? Maybe 10 at the most?

     At last count, there are 23. Yes, 23 MHS graduates currently in college, competing in sports. This doesn’t even include the dozens of athletes who played college sports and have since gone to other things or graduated.

     To compile the list, I came up with several names off the top of my head, and I consulted MHS activities director Tim Lambert. Then, I enlisted the help of Facebook friends, both through my personal page and through that of the Express. The goal, of course, is to avoid leaving anyone out.

     I quickly decided doing a one-time feature on 23 athletes would not only take way more time than I have here, it wouldn’t do any of them justice.

     So, I took the advice of our editor, Kim Brooks, and have begun a series, called The Next Level. As you can see on these pages, the first installment is for three men’s basketball players who have just completed the season. I contacted these guys and threw out a few questions in Q-and-A format about competing in college.

     Future issues will include a wrestler, men’s and women’s track and field competitors, softball players, baseball players, a cross country runner, dance team members and a bowler.

     There are also three former Panthers playing football in college, and my plan is to feature them in late summer as football season approaches.

     Of course, it’s always possible I will miss someone. If a sport is featured and a college athlete near and dear to you is not included, please let me know and I’ll feature them in a future issue.

     Meanwhile, I hope this gets me caught up on our former Panthers who are still going strong in the world of athletics, and I hope you enjoy it.