Five Jensen Beach student-athletes celebrated the next chapter of their lives Tuesday by announcing their signings to the next level.
Two stars from this year’s state championship volleyball team for the Falcons will be going to their next stops but will play in slightly different sports.
Lindsay Walch, who was recently named the Florida Dairy Farmers 5A Player of the Year, will head to South Carolina to play for Furman.
At outside hitter, Walch had an outstanding season accumulating 368 kills, 143 digs, 54 aces and 37 blocks in her senior season.
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Lauren Duke will stay in the state but will trade her indoor shoes to play in the sand on Tampa’s beach volleyball team.
One of the Falcons’ most versatile players throughout her career, Duke totaled 163 kills, 224 digs and 43 aces in her senior season.
Another athlete staying in Florida will be cross-country star Nicholas Colbert, who will compete on both the cross-country and track and field teams at Palm Beach Atlantic.
Colbert, who will compete on the track in the spring, excelled as one of the state’s top runners this fall winning five events, added a second at districts, a third at regionals and took seventh at the FHSAA 2A Championship in November.
Annalise Buncy will wrap up her Jensen Beach softball career in the spring and will then head north to play at Stetson.
Buncy, a power-hitting infielder, batted .294 with six extra-base hits including a home run and 19 RBIs as a junior last season.
Kevin Smith will also take the field this spring for the Falcon baseball team and is also headed to the Division I level on his way to Louisville.
Playing last season at John Carroll Catholic, Smith batted .347 with nine extra-base hits including a home run and drove in 20 runs as a junior.
Sebastian River’s Ledford, Wehrberger sign
Three-time gold medalist swimmer Mitchell Ledford and softball standout Victoria Wehrberger celebrated their signings to the next level at Sebastian River on Wednesday.
Ledford will enroll early and begin classes next semester at North Carolina State after wrapping up a senior season to remember for the Sharks.
Repeating as the 100 butterfly champion at the FHSAA 3A Swimming and Diving Championships, Ledford added a gold medal in the 100 backstroke and also helped Sebastian’s 200 medley relay team earn a bronze medal last month.
Wehrberger will be heading north to play at West Virginia Wesleyan College after completing her career in the spring for the Sharks.
Last season, Wehrberger had an outstanding season pitching to a 0.90 ERA with 41 strikeouts and just three walks in 46 2/3 innings and also batted .325 in 40 at-bats.
Bryan Cooney is a high school sports reporter at TCPalm, part of the USA TODAY Network. You can reach him at [email protected] and also on Twitter at @Bryspann_Cooney.