AOTW: From an Oregon catcher to Harvard skier, 18 Service student-athletes sign to college sports

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – It is the time of year when high school student-athletes put pen to paper and make their collegiate athletic dreams come true.

Inside an Anchorage high school last week, over a dozen of those dreams came to fruition as Service High held a signing party for 18 of its student-athletes.

From bowling to basketball, Service athletes in eight different sports will be playing at all levels, from junior college up to NCAA Division I.

Considered by some to be Alaska’s best baseball player, Service catcher Coen Niclai decided to keep his green and gold threads by signing with the University of Oregon.

“I would say just a lot of hard work and dedication,” said Niclai, last year’s Alaska Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year. “If you want to go somewhere and you put your mind to it, I think that’s all you need to get your way out of here. Obviously, it is a big obstacle but I think if you put your mind to something, you should be able to achieve it.”

Cougar teammates Owen Hickman, Jake Rafferty and Hunter Christian will also be moving on to the next level.

“I think they all deserve it, I think they all work hard every single day,” Niclai said.

Also making a splash last week was Cougar swimmer Conrad Fawcett, who is heading to Division II Colorado Mesa University.

“The team right off the bat felt like a family and Colorado is a very beautiful place so I was drawn there,” Fawcett said.

A three-time state champion in the 500 freestyle who owns multiple school records, Fawcett hopes to leave a legacy that goes beyond his school-record swims.

”I think just the legacy of a leader and showing underclassmen and younger kids what they can grow into,” Fawcett said, “just to inspire them so we can continue that winning legacy here.”

While Thursday was the culmination of a lifelong dream for most athletes, others fulfilled a dream they did not know was possible a few years ago.

That’s the case for Alyssa Porcelli, who is off to bowl at McPherson College in Kansas, an uncommon opportunity for those out of Alaska.

”When I saw my partner Maia [Struble] … she went off to college for bowling, and before then I didn’t really think that it was something we could do in Alaska considering how secluded we are,” Porcelli said. “Then when I saw her go, I started looking into it and I really got focused on going to college for bowling.”

Porcelli is a four-time high school bowling champion with a career-high of 296. She said she began bowling just for fun.

“I’d say just to do it,” she said of others who could be in her bowling shoes one day. “You don’t think you can but do it. It is really hard at first but once I accepted and I signed and everything, it all just became real, like, this is what I want to do with my life. And it may not click at first, but it will click.”

Meanwhile, if Elias Soule is not in the books, he is on the ski trails.

The Service High Valedictorian signed a Nordic ski scholarship to THE Harvard University.

“It has been a dream of mine to go [Division I] in my sport ever since I was a kid,” Soule said. “I am very academically inclined I would say … so Harvard was probably my number one [choice]. Had a really good season last year, and the coach really liked me. I was able to be their number one recruit this year, so pretty stoked.”

Soule boasts a 4.55 GPA and plans to study economics with a secondary degree in computer science.

“Student-athlete, ‘student’ is first, you know,” he said. “It has been the most important part of my household growing up has always been school. I took a bunch of hard classes, did really well and the hard work pays off.”

On the trails, Soule participated in the biathlon at the Youth Olympic Games in South Korea and is a Junior World Nordic Ski competitor.

From the snow to the turf, five members of the state runner-up football program will team up at Montana State University-Northern, an NAIA affiliate of the Montana State Grizzlies.

All 18 student-athletes are expected to walk across the graduation stage May 16 at the Alaska Airlines Center.

Football

Jonathan Tautua – Montana State Northern – NAIA. 1st Team All-State QB

Jayden Lopez – Montana State Northern – NAIA – 2nd Team All-State OL

Kyan Calderera – Montana State Northern – NAIA – 2nd Team All-Conference DE

Arnold Baffour – Montana State Northern – NAIA – All-Conference honorable mention – State Champion Wrestler

Calvin Texter-Jackson – Montana State Northern – NAIA – Service was State-champion runner-ups

Baseball

Coen Niclai – University of Oregon – NCAA Division I – Gatorade Player of the Year – 1st Team All-State

Owen Hickman – North Park University – NCAA Division III – 1st Team All-Conference Pitcher/Utility

Jake Rafferty – Tacoma Community College – JuCo – All-State, All-Conference Pitcher/1st Base

Hunter Christian – Chipola College – JuCo – All-State Pitcher/Shortstop

Soccer

Luke Stacy – Clark College (WA) – NCAA Division III – All-Region Forward – GPOY Finalist

Sumiko Ramos – Indian Hills CC – JuCo – 2x All-Region

Rebecca Eichler – Blue Mountain Christian University – NAIA

Swimming

Conrad Fawcett – Colorado Mesa University – NCAA Division III – 3-time 500-Freestyle State Champion, Owns 2 School Records

Preston Kwon – Pomona College – NCAA Division III

Basketball

Mackeenan Morgan – Luzerne County Community College – JuCo – 2nd Team All-Conference

Nordic Skiing

Elias Soule – Harvard University – NCAA Division I – 5-time All-American, Junior World Competitor

Bowling

Alyssa Porcelli – McPherson College – NAIA – 4-time State Champion – 2023 State Girls Record with 296 score

Volleyball

Paige Miller – Centralia College – JuCo – 1st-Team All-Conference

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