1 week Ago
Biddeford seniors, from left, Eliza Doyon, Ayla Lagasse, Abby Bouffard and Gavin Haggett, formalized their college plans on Wednesday when they signed financial aid agreements. Doyon and Lagasse will attend Saint Anselm to play field hockey, Bouffard will play lacrosse at Southern New Hampshire, and Haggett is joining Stonehill’s baseball team. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer BIDDEFORD — Gavin Haggett sat on stage at Biddeford High School, his letter of intent in front of him, and saw Eliza Doyon, Ayla Lagasse and Abigail Bouffard to his right, about to sign their own.
Not a bad feat, he thought. “It’s more than I expected there’d be,” he said. “I thought there would just be me and maybe one other kid.
It just means we’re a pretty competitive school.” Haggett, a baseball player signing his commitment to Division I Stonehill College, and his classmates were among numerous Maine athletes who signed letters of intent Wednesday to play their sports at NCAA Division I and Division II colleges and universities. It was the first day athletes could put pen to paper and make their verbal commitments official for college enrollment in 2025.
The destinations were already decided, but Bouffard, a lacrosse standout headed to D-II Southern New Hampshire University, said there was still a jolt that came with signing the letter. “I’m so overwhelmed right now,” she said. “To really lay your eyes on it and see it officially, it just makes it so much more real.
” The NCAA eliminated the National Letter of Intent program in October, so now athletes sign a financial aid agreement to attend and play at D-I and D-II schools. Other athletes who signed Wednesday included Scarborough’s Sophie Tonello (swimming, Sacred Heart), Deering’s Ella Freeman (soccer, Boston College), Windham’s Kyla Harvie (soccer, Southern New Hampshire), Greely’s Abby Lennox (soccer, Saint Anselm College) and Ella Pelletier of Oxford Hills (basketball, Stonehill). Athletes who plan to sign Thursday include Thornton Academy’s Ava Lomax (soccer, American International), Charlotte Belanger (soccer, Maine), Quincy Thibault (soccer, Assumption), Jacob Fish (baseball, American International) and Jack DeLeo (lacrosse, Merrimack); Scarborough’s Erik Swenson (baseball, Maine); and Gorham soccer players Ashley Connolly (South Carolina) and Bailey Hatch (Le Moyne).
On Friday, Portland’s Anneliese Collin (soccer, UMass Lowell) and Samantha Moore (track and field, UConn) will sign, along with Windham’s Kennedy Kimball (softball, Youngstown State). When Biddeford’s Doyon and Lagasse signed on at Saint Anselm, it officially continued a bond that has seen the two play together since middle school. “We just have so much chemistry playing together that it’s going to be so much easier going in playing with my best friend,” Doyon said.
The two weren’t planning at first to go to the same college. They’re happy, though, with how it turned out. “We’ve been together literally since I started playing,” Lagasse said.
“We both started as freshmen, it’s been like that forever.” Another Saint Anselm commit signed two hours earlier when Lennox, flanked by players on the Greely girls’ and boys’ soccer teams, signed her letter. Lennox scored twice in Greely’s 3-1 Class B final victory Saturday.
“I think it just made it 100 times better,” she said of the crowd around her. “I just knew that I wanted as many people here that helped me through the process as could be here. .
.. I verbally committed, but I think signing that paper is a little bit of assurance that it’s actually happening, it’s actually real.
” The list of Maine athletes who either signed Wednesday or will sign later includes Kennebunk baseball players Max Andrews and Isaac Jensen (Northeastern) and softball player Julia Pike (Albany), Lucy Johnson of Cheverus (field hockey, Boston University), Leavitt’s Jade Haylock (golf, Sacred Heart), Lawrence’s Maddie Niles (field hockey, Merrimack) and Elizabeth Holden (golf, Le Moyne), Winthrop’s Madeline Wagner (field hockey, Merrimack), Gardiner’s Gabi Sousa (field hockey, Maine), Gorham’s Wyatt Nadeau (baseball, Vanderbilt), Scarborough’s Emerson Flaker (track and field, UConn), Falmouth’s Ty Simmons (baseball, Assumption), Britt Denny of Camden Hills (soccer, Maine), Windham’s Stella Jarvais (soccer, Maine), Sanford’s Audrey Payeur (field hockey, Saint Anselm) and Maren Maxon of Wells (basketball, Vermont). Another former Oxford Hills athlete, Teigan Pelletier of St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire, is headed to Harvard to play football.
Former Oceanside girls’ basketball star Bailey Breen, now at Montverde Academy in Florida, is returning home to play at UMaine. Like Doyon and Lagasse, Niles and Wagner will bring familiarity to their new teams. They were teammates for Coastal Field Hockey and Maine Majestix, and will head to Merrimack and look to provide scoring punch for the Warriors.
“I am sort of a homebody, so I think that was one of the bigger choices,” Niles said. “I’m really proud of myself. I’ve worked really hard playing field hockey my whole life.
...
It’s a great fit for me, I’m glad I’ve got it all figured out.” Both players said having a teammate on the roster will help with the transition. “There’s a scary aspect to going to college, going away from home,” Wagner said.
“I’ve known Maddie for years. ..
. It’s just great knowing someone.” Haylock, the four-time golf state champion, just last week made her decision to play at Sacred Heart.
“I feel confident that I can jump in and have a big impact on the team,” she said. “All of my hard work is paying off once again, and I feel like I’m reflecting that in the school that I’m going to. I just want to make the most of these four years I have left of playing at a high level.
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