ROANOKE, Va. – Signing Day at North Cross School was a star-studded affair with elite, top-notch division one student-athletes making their official commitments. All four of them played travel football together at a young age and all proved to be vital in the Raiders winning three state championships in the last four years.
Jase Rhodes will be taking his talents to James Madison University. Rhodes, a 2x team Captain, is already a two-time 1st Team All-State DB,1x 1st Team All-State WR, and a multi-time All-Conference DB and WR, ever since 9th grade and last season, Rhodes was named the team’s 2024 Defensive MVP. As is the case with many exceptional football players, Rhodes has also been an indoor and an outdoor track and field phenom for the Raiders over the last three years, helping North Cross win both the Boys Outdoor Track Conference and VISAA DII State Championship titles in 2023, as well as both the Boys Indoor Track Conference and VISAA DII State titles in 2025! Rhodes was awarded the team’s MVP three times, the State Male Indoor Track Athlete of the Meet in 2025 and the Conference Male Outdoor Athlete of the Meet in 2024. A superstar in the triple jump, high jump, long jump and relays, Rhodes has too many Conference titles to count, but he also has three individual Indoor Track State titles (2023 & 2024 Triple Jump, 2025 High Jump) as well as two individual Outdoor Track State titles (2023 Triple Jump & 4x100) to round out his storied high school track career.
Outstanding offensive and defensive lineman Nathan Hayes is taking his talents to Elon University. Hayes is a three-time 1st Team All-State and All-Conference OL and a1st & 2nd Team All-State and All-Conference DL. Aside from football, Hayes has been a multi-sport student-athlete for North Cross having played one year on the Boys Varsity Basketball team and two years on the Indoor Track team and three years on the Outdoor Track team. A very strong shot put athlete, Hayes was the 2025 Conference Indoor Track Shot Put Champion and was twice the State’s Shot Put Runner-up (2025 Indoor Track and 2025 Outdoor Track). As a 9th grader, Hayes helped North Cross win both the 2023 Conference and State Outdoor Track titles and then as an 11th grader, Hayes also helped North Cross win both the 2025 Conference and State Indoor Track titles, as well.
Ja’ziel Hart put pen to paper to continue his academic and athletic career at UNC-Chapel Hill. Hart is a three-time 1st Team All-State DB, a1st & 2nd Team All-State WR,1x State Defensive Player of the Year (2023),State Overall Co-Player of the Year(2023) and two-time team MVP (2023 & 2024 Offensive) for the Raiders. Hart has also been named 1st Team All-Conference as either a DB, WR and/or Punt Returner every year since 9th grade and was voted Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 2023. An incredibly gifted athlete, Hart also played his heart out for three years on the North Cross Boys Varsity Basketball team (2022-2024) and was both a 2022 individual Conference and State Champion (4x100), as well as a 2023 team Conference and State Champion for Raiders Track program having provided many great results in the 4x100, 4x 400 and high jump during his three years on the team.
Tristan Lange will lean on his baseball prowess at Virginia Commonwealth University. With a lightning bolt for an arm, Lange’s pitching and play has earned him 1st Team All-State twice, 1st Team All-Conference twice and team MVP twice, and was even named 2nd Team All-Conference as a 9th grader. With the Spring 2026 baseball season still to come, Lange currently has a career ERA of 1.94 (last year was 1.31) and has pitched 159 innings so far with 303 K’s (123 K’s last season), has the school record for most strikeouts in a game at 20 and holds a career batting average of .405 with 70 career hits! Aside from playing baseball for North Cross, Lange has played the last five years with the Dirtbags National team, as well. A talented multi-sport athlete, Lange has played four years on the North Cross Boys Varsity Basketball team and has also made quite a name for himself on the Raiders football team, having also won three Conference and State Football Championship titles in the last four years (2022, 2023 & 2025)!! While the 2025 football postseason honors have not yet been released, over the years Lange has played numerous positions on the field including LB, RB and even QB and is already a 2x All-State player!