North, Memorial athletes finalize college decisions

Eau Claire North and Eau Claire Memorial honored a large number of high school athletes making their college picks official. North held its ceremony Tuesday where eight senior athletes signed their National Letter of Intent for six different sports. Memorial honored its athletes on May 2 where 11 seniors signed their NLI.

Two Huskies will be continuing their athletic careers on the gridiron. Brady Jensen and Maddux Geurts will become Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference rivals as Jensen will be headed to UW-La Crosse as a tight end while Geurts will continue his career at UW-Stout.

Geurts announced his commitment in January after being named an All-Big Rivers first team selection at defensive back in his senior season. Jensen committed to the Eagles in December.

On the hardwood, Andrew Rocksvold is staying close to home and attending UW-Eau Claire under new men’s basketball coach Zach Malvik. The 6’7 senior led the Huskies in scoring with 17.9 points per game and rebounding with 7.4 boards a game.

Rocksvold has been committed to the Blugolds since October and was an All-Big Rivers first teamer. The senior helped lead the Huskies to a 12-13 record that included wins over state-ranked Marshfield and rival Eau Claire Memorial. He was one of four North athletes signing on to play at UWEC.

Two of those signing their NLI with the Blugolds were Logan Hesselman and Chase Watkins. The pair will play baseball for a Blugolds program where former North head baseball coach Bob Johnson is an assistant coach. Johnson was the Huskies head baseball coach for 17 years before stepping away in 2022.

Watkins can play multiple positions but has particularly made his name as a pitcher. The righthander has emerged as the Huskies consistent Tuesday starter. Hesselman has been committed to UWEC since November and plays the middle infield for the Huskies.

Megan Standiford is the fourth North athlete that put pen to paper to further their career at UWEC. Standiford committed to play softball for the Blugolds in November. The senior was an All-Big Rivers second team pick in 2022.

Elliott Solberg made his commitment to play Soccer at Division III Dubuque official. Solberg was a two-time All-Big Rivers first team selection in 2022 and 2023. Steffan Larson rounds out the class with a commitment to play golf at Viterbo.

EC Memorial Baseball

Eau Claire Memorial third baseman Leo Lauscher (8) throws across the diamond after fielding a groundball in the Old Abes opening day matchup with New Richmond. Lauscher is one of many Memorial athletes that signed their National Letter of Intent on May 2.

11 Old Abes put pen to paper

Memorial held its signing ceremony on May 2 where 11 athletes across several sports signed the dotted line to finalize their college decisions.

Two Old Abe football players signed to play for a pair of WIAC programs. Vincent Mullen will be heading to UW-Stout and Ethan Bump will play for UW-Stevens Point. Bump announced his commitment in February.

Jordyn Peed was one of several talented guards that helped lead the Old Abes to a 22-5 record and a regional title in girls basketball. She’ll be moving on to play at Division III St. Catherine’s University in Saint Paul.

Peed raked in the accolades her senior season including being a WBCA Division 1 All-State honorable mention, an All-Big Rivers second team selection and a Leader-Telegram All-Northwest fourth team pick. She committed to the Wildcats back in October.

Other Old Abe athletes solidifying their college choices included Sawyer Stein and Leo Lauscher, who each make up the muscle of the Memorial baseball lineup. Stein and Lauscher will be going the JuCo route for college baseball as Lauscher will be playing at Southeastern Community College in Iowa as a corner infielder while Stein is headed to Iowa Central Community College.

Stein committed to the Tritons in January. The senior was an All-Big Rivers first team selection as an infielder in 2023. Lauscher has been selected to the All-Big Rivers second team in each of the past two seasons.

Three cross country and track and field athletes also made their college decisions official. Daniel Murray, Julian Bica Harrison and William Sylvester — who each were a part of Memorial’s trips to the cross country state meets in 2022 and 2023 — each signed their NLI.

Murray will run at UWEC, Julian Bica Harrison is headed to Carroll University in Waukesha and Sylvester will attend Washington University in St. Louis.

Tyler DeBruyckere has been a part of an Old Abes boys golf program that has gone to state in each of the past three seasons. Individually, DeBruyckere was an All-Big Rivers second team selection in 2023. He’ll play collegiately at Division II Concordia-St. Paul.

Jacob Rossi will join Julian Bica Harrison at Carroll University where Rossi will be on the swim team. The senior appeared at the state tournament in 2023 and was a part of the team that won the Big Rivers 200 freestyle Relay during the 2021-22 season.

For women’s hockey, Hailey Stanek will move to Massachusetts to play at Division III Salem State University.