Area athletes put pen to paper on Early National Signing Day

ROANOKE, Va. – On Wednesday, nearly a dozen area student athletes signed their National Letter of Intent for the early signing period.

At Lord Botetourt, Gunner Givens and Hunter McClain both signed to play football at Virginia Tech.

“I don’t know what role I played in this but I know we have a great support system here, and everybody that’s been involved,” head coach Jamie Harless said. “The teachers in this building are fantastic and they do a good job of getting the kids ready to play. Our administration, our school board, the county, it’s a great place for these kids to grow and nourish and become the kinds of players people want on the next level.”

Hidden Valley sent four athletes to the next level. Ashton Carroll signed to play football at Ball State, Cameron Davenport will play volleyball at Cedarville University, Slade Aliff will play golf at Emory and Henry, and Emmerson Bartley will hit the links at Randolph Macon College.

“This is really exciting for us,” Athletic Director John-Michael deeds said. “This is great news obviously that we want to share with the community and everybody in the Roanoke Valley because whenever you have the opportunity to have four student athletes go on to compete at the collegiate level, it’s something you’re definitely proud of and we’re proud of them here at Hidden Valley High school.”

In Lynchburg, a trio of football talent is off to the next level out of LCA. Dillon Stowers will be heading to Army, Davis Lane signed with UVA, and Zach Rice will play at UNC. Track and field athlete Jordyn Robbins is heading to UNC Wilmington.

“Just the fact that they will go to major universities representing LCA I believe all of them will be very successful where they go,” Athletic Director Frank Rocco said. “And certainly carry on the LCA mantle as they move on into their careers and we’re so proud and humbled by the whole thing.”

Radford’s Tyler Dobson also signed with VMI today.


About the Authors:

John serves as the Sports Director at WSLS 10. From Virginia Tech, to NASCAR and everything in between, WSLS 10 Sports covers the names making big plays in the NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB.

Brooke Leonard is the newest addition to the 10 Sports team, joining in June 2019.