Signing day is almost here

A day that may not have held much weight on the sports calendar 10-15 years ago is one of the more highly anticipated these days. Of course, I'm talking about National Signing Day, which is officially Wednesday. The day is a big one for colleges and their teams everywhere, but particularly for football, where the best of the best in high school talent puts ink to their commitments and gets a place to play their college ball. You can follow it for hours on ESPNU, and it will be big news on virtually every sports page in the country. That will be the case for the Alpena News as well. While we haven't ever had as impressive a crop of college-level talent as many other areas on a yearly basis, we have been lucky to have a few select individuals get their shots at the next level. This year Alcona defensive end/tight end Brock LaVergne is set to sign with Ferris State, the third local player to join the Bulldogs program in the past two years. Last year Alpena's Austin Leeck and Jon Dziesinski were in Ferris's class of recruits.

LaVergne, who had some interest from some Division 1 teams, will be a good pickup for Ferris. His 6-foot-6, 220-pound frame should serve him well playing college football, and with more muscle and weight could project at any number of positions when the day comes for him to see playing time.

As I mentioned before, signing day isn't limited to football. That's why the News has a second big signing to go with LaVergne's by way of Alpena runner Emily McAnsh, who will sign with Western Michigan's women's track and field program sometime tomorrow. McAnsh has really stood out on the track for Alpena over the last few years as a sprinter. See what a lot of hard work and dedication can do for an athlete? McAnsh follows former Alpena and WMU standout Ashley Hunault to Kalamazoo, and opens up a bit of a pipeline from the Northeast to the Southwest part of the state.

Signing day will come and pass tomorrow, but there could be more signings in the days to come if scholarships remain available. Alpena has a couple of possible future college football players in Ethan Siegert, who missed almost all of last year with an injury, as well as all-time leading tackler Tom Dihle and fellow defensive stalwart Sean Kane.