National Signing Day is an important day for all high school senior athletes across the country as it is the culmination of all of their hard work and perseverance as a student athlete. Only the top student athletes are recruited by colleges and universities to play at the NCAA Division I level.
ULS Senior, Grace Monahan has represented ULS and won many awards and state championships for the sport she has grown to love and work hard at her entire life. Varsity Girls Swimming, ILH Champion, HHSAA State Champion, ILH All Star, ILH Girls Swimmer of the Year to name a few.
We are proud to announce that on National Signing Day, Grace signed with North Carolina State University, an NCAA Division I school located in Raleigh, North Carolina. When asked why she chose NC State above all other offers Grace said, “I Chose NC State for many reasons. NCSU has high-level academics, including the major I want to pursue in, which is marketing. The school is very passionate about its athletes and all of the sports that compete for their school. The swimming program is one of the best in the country and is very family-oriented which is something I wanted being so far away from home. Also, the city of Raleigh is beautiful and has so many opportunities and different activities that I am very excited to try.”
When the pandemic started, Grace was worried about how her performance would change when swim meets and sports normalized. “I did a lot of running, surfing, and ocean swimming to keep my aerobic fitness at the level it needed to be. It was challenging to get back into shape last year but the hard work has paid off. Not having high school swim meets last year was obviously a bummer but it’s made me even more excited to finally compete one last time for Pac-5 and UH Lab before I head off to Raleigh.”
For Grace, it has always been a dream of hers to swim at the collegiate level, especially because of the level of competition. “At UH Lab, balancing all of my classes every day, as well as swim practices on top of that, has not been easy. However, I’m grateful that I have learned how to manage my time well, which will play a big role in college.”
Many UH Lab Graduates go on to play a sport in college, but Grace will be the one of the lucky few to have the opportunity to play at the Division I level. We asked Grace what advice she would give to other aspiring ULS student athletes. “If there’s a certain school you want to go to or if you’re dreaming of competing in a sport collegiately, then you have to go for it. Give yourself the chance to make it, don’t take the easy route.”
Congratulations Grace and best of luck on your future endeavors! Go Jr. Bows!