Gregori hosts unique Signing Day ceremony to honor three student-athletes
National Signing Day is normally when high schools pack their gyms and honor student-athletes who will be competing at the next level.
However, 2020 has shown us anything but normalcy.
So, on Wednesday’s first day of signing season, Gregori High honored three athletes by hosting a social-distanced ceremony outside the front of the school.
The three athletes were: Madison Kackley (UC Davis, cross country and track), Olivia Keller (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, volleyball), and Brett Zimmerman (Loyola Marymount, baseball).
James Davis, Gregori’s athletic director and baseball coach, said Zimmerman would watch the team practice as an incoming freshman and became “someone we built the program around.”
“He’s the first-ever D-1 baseball player out of high school in Gregori history,” Davis said.
Zimmerman was a three-year starting shortstop for the Jaguars, who had a career batting average around .300 and said signing was a “big step” for a new beginning.
He doesn’t want his Gregori career to be over just yet after his junior year was cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I just want to play one more time in a Gregori uniform,” Zimmerman said.
Kackley, a two-time Bee Girls Cross Country of the Year honoree, said she wants one more shot at the CIF State Cross Country Meet.
Before the ceremony, the future Aggie said she ran six miles and is in “good position” for a state run after finishing in fifth in the D1 race last year.
“Her sophomore year at a meet we talked about how she runs normally in the front of the pack and I told her not to go out so fast and don’t be in first at the mile marker,” cross country coach Matt Soderlund said. “I asked her what she wanted to do and she said win.”
Track and field coach Morgan Gallegos said Gregori has “never” had an athlete of Kackley’s caliber. In addition to being a two-time state qualifier in cross country, Kackley also qualified for 1600 and 3200 at the state track meet as a sophomore.
Kackley said she had interest from several schools including the University of California and UCLA but UC Davis set themselves apart with one big thing.
“They offered me a full-ride scholarship and I couldn’t pass that up,” she said. “It’s not very common for cross country runners to get full scholarships.”
Keller knew for a long time she would be a Mustang after committing as a sophomore.
Keller’s career at San Luis Obispo will start sooner than others as she is graduating in December.
“They are having a mini season (due to COVID-10) in the spring and I am enrolling and going to lift weights and practice with the team,” Keller said.
While she will be training and practicing, Keller won’t compete in the season, thus not starting her eligibility clock until the Fall.
She is also the only member of the incoming class to enroll early.
“I was always going to Signing Day ceremonies and wanted that to be me,” Keller said. “I am grateful for all my coaches and I finally signed the dotted line.”
Other Stanislaus District athletes who signed on Wednesday were: Central Catholic’s Hannah Castillon (Cal State Monterey Bay, volleyball) and Joecellia Roberts (University of San Diego, softball), Hilmar’s Mikela Labno (San Diego State, volleyball), Modesto Christian’s Chris Fan (Eastern Washington, basketball), and Turlock’s Dominic Rodriguez (Fresno State, baseball).
Big Valley Christian baseball players Cameron Butler (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo) and Wyatt Thames (Biola) were also signing this week.
CCCAA moves forward with sports plan: The California Community Collete Athletic Association Board of Directors voted on Nov. 6 to continue with the Contingency Plan, which will have several sports, including football, start in mid-February.
Here are what sports will look like in the plan and one other change in the upcoming season is competition will be reduced to 70% of a usual season (seven games instead of 10 for football) and there won’t be any state championships.
Early Spring: Basketball, Cross Country, Football, Soccer, Water Polo, Women’s Golf, Women’s Volleyball, Wrestling
The Late Spring sports season includes the usual (baseball, softball, track and field, etc) and practice will start on March 27 with competition beginning on April 10.
The Board of Directors also approved a motion to grant student-athletes with a waiver for any CCCAA competition, meaning the upcoming season won’t count as a year toward their eligibility.
Local coaches nominated for state award: Four local coaches were recently announced as Sac-Joaquin Section nominees for the NFHS California State Coach of the Year award for the 2019-20 school year.
The four coaches were: Rob Beckhart (Central Valley, boys wrestling), Matt Doyle (Enochs, girls golf), Charly Garza (Hughson, baseball), and Chris Musseman (Ripon, football).
---
2020-21 Stanislaus District Signees
| Athlete | School | Sport | College |
| Cameron Butler | Big Valley Christian | Baseball | Cal Poly San Luis Obispo |
| Wyatt Thames | Big Valley Christian | Baseball | Biola University |
| Hannah Castillon | Central Catholic | Volleyball | Cal State Monterey Bay |
| Joecellia Roberts | Central Catholic | Softball | University of San Diego |
| Brett Zimmerman | Gregori | Baseball | Loyola Marymount |
| Olivia Keller | Gregori | Volleyball | Cal Poly San Luis Obispo |
| Madison Kackley | Gregori | Cross Country/Track | UC Davis |
| Mikela Labno | Hilmar | Volleyball | San Diego State |
| Chris Fan | Modesto Christian | Basketball | Eastern Washington |
| Dominic Rodriguez | Turlock | Baseball | Fresno State |
This story was originally published November 12, 2020 at 4:36 AM.
