Evergreen High School honored 14 athletes on Feb. 1 during National Letter of Intent Day — a day to laud their commitment to sports both in high school and as they move to the collegiate level in the fall.

Evergreen’s crop of new collegiate athletes will be spread across the United States as they take on their new roles as student-athletes.

Tommy Poholsky, football, University of Iowa

Kelten Ocasek, football, Denison University

Jordan Turnbull, football, University of Wyoming

Russ Woodward, football, Army-West Point

Poholsky will follow in his father’s footsteps, and coach Matt Van Praag said he knew since he coached the younger Poholsky in fourth grade that things would turn out well. Ocasek does whatever the coach needs him to do, Van Praag said, and he turned himself into a college football player. The coach called Turnbull an excellent player, joking that Turnbull wanted to play football somewhere warm, so he wound up going to college in Laramie, Wyoming. Van Praag said Woodward developed into an awesome defensive lineman, and playing for Army was a great opportunity.

Dillyn Collins, softball, California State University – San Marcos

Sidney Phillips, softball, Oakland City University

Coach Steve Nuccio said he has seen how dedicated and committed Collins was to the sport, and he knew Phillips would go further because of her grit and resolve to play the game.

Mikey Crane, lacrosse, University of Utah

Coach Mark Stapor said Crane deserved to play at the next level because he exemplifies the team’s pillar including trust, humility, accountability, respect and poise.

Bella Reece, lacrosse, University of Colorado

Jessica Stiller, lacrosse, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire

Averi Gardner, lacrosse, University of Colorado

Coach Rachel Sanford said coaching Reese, Stiller and Garner when they were younger was the reason she took the EHS coaching position. All three were positive, athletic and a joy to coach. She said Reece embodied leadership because she garnered respect from everybody on the team, Stiller embodied resilience because she came back to the sport after several knee injuries, and Gardner embodied perfection because of the work she put in to be her best.

Lindsay Jeans, soccer, Colorado School of Mines

PeterJeans, who coached his daughter for Evergreen, said he could testify to the amount of effort and sacrifice that went into her signing to play for School of Mines. He said she raised the level of play in every game she was in.

Robert Sumner, soccer, Metro State University of Denver

Sumner did not play for Evergreen, instead playing for club team Real Colorado. Coach Peter Jeans said Sumner had a deft touch on the ball and his passing was “sublime.”

Justin C. Lipka, baseball, Fort Hays State University

Coach John Lipka said he was proud his son would be playing for a Division-2 program, and the coach said Justin had put in a lot of hard work to be recruited to play for Fort Hays.

Jameson Mott, basketball, Gettysburg College

Coach Maddy Hornecker said she first met Mott when Mott was in sixth grade, and Hornecker didn’t believe Mott could become a better shooter, but she did. Hornecker called her an incredible person.