Senior Athletes Signing Off
Four Shaker students commit to continue their athletic careers at the Division 1 level
November 17, 2022
Four Shaker seniors signed official Division 1 athletic commitments Wednesday at the high school’s annual signing day ceremony.
Seniors Allana Appleby, Javiera Baeza, Chloe Brown and Skylar Sokal signed their commitment papers in the North Gym on NCAA Signing Day, Nov. 9.
During the ceremony, the student athletes introduced themselves and announced the colleges they will attend in the fall.
Senior volleyball player Allana Appleby committed to Cleveland State University. “I’ve always dreamed of playing DI volleyball since I was 12. So having this opportunity to play is amazing, and I couldn’t be more grateful,” Appleby wrote in a text interview.
Senior volleyball player Chloe Brown committed to the State University of New York at Buffalo to continue her volleyball career as well.
Senior field hockey player Skylar Sokal committed to Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky. “I am beyond excited to continue to play field hockey throughout college. It has always been a dream of mine,” Sokal wrote in a text interview.
The Bellarmine Knights joined the Mid-America Conference in 2020 as an affiliated team for field hockey and began competing in the MAC last year.
Tim Sokal, Skylar’s father, said, “I’m very excited for her to be playing Division I. It’s a smaller school, but when we first took her there to see it, she fell in love with it.”
Javiera Baeza, another field hockey player, committed to Indiana University to compete in the Big Ten Conference. “I chose Indiana because of the business school and its beautiful campus and town. Sports wise, I like the coaches and the high intensity practices and teammates,” Baeza wrote in a text interview.
Baeza said that she is going to miss the athletic environment most about Shaker. “I think one of the best things that Shaker has done best is how they developed the athletic program to get kids lifting, get them to games, get them excited for all seasons,” Baeza said. “It is simply the environment that I’m going to miss, either on the field playing and getting cheered on by fellow Raiders or of being in the stands cheering on another Shaker team.”