The Lincoln High School auditorium was filled with family, friends, and supporters on Wednesday for the three athletes who are all taking their talents to Minnesota.
Wednesday, November 13th was National Signing Day, and Brayden Steinbecker, Tessa Campbell, and Julien Bailey all signed their letters of intent to continue their athletic careers in college.
Steinbecker will be playing Division II baseball at St. Cloud State University, Campbell will be attending the University of St. Thomas running Division I track, and Bailey will be playing Division II football at Bemidji State University.
The three Minnesota-bound athletes had many different thoughts and feelings from their signing day, ranging from excitement to relief.
Steinbecker and Bailey expressed similar feelings of exhilaration, with Steinbecker telling SeehaferNews.com, “I’m very excited to be able to sign. It’s an exciting day, and I’m excited overall.”
Bailey voiced a similar feeling, saying, “Personally, I just wanted to say I’m very excited, you know, I’m excited to become a beaver. I can’t wait to get out there. It’s sad to say that my high school career is coming to an end, but I’m happy that college is coming up and that I’ll be able to spend my next 4-5 years out there.”
Campbell explained her feelings from the day were more so feelings of relief and optimism for the rest of her senior year.
“I’m feeling very relieved because the decision is made and now, I can just spend the rest of my senior year doing the things that I still want to accomplish in high school and look forward to better things at college,” she explained.
Though the three athletes are all committed for different sports, they all expressed the same immense passion for their sport.
Campbell even stated, “Track isn’t really something I can see my life without right now, so to be able to continue that in the future is really nice.”
Steinbecker also shares the same commitment to his sport, expressing that baseball is a part of his everyday life.
“I’ve always had a love for the sport of baseball,” he explained. “Every day, I’ve done something baseball-related, and it’s just always been a favorite thing of mine.”
Bailey explained that his passion for football began at a young age and has brought him to his current success.
“I’ve just always had a love for the sport, you know,” he told SeehaferNews.com. ”As a young kid, I always just went outside to play football when it was halftime for a football game or something like that. I’ve just always loved to play football, it’s a passion of mine.”
Despite all three athletes still being early on in their senior year, they all have already created goals and aspirations for themselves for their college years and beyond. Steinbecker has the drive and desire to be a “true freshman” in his first season at St. Cloud.
“A lot of freshmen ‘red shirt,’ and my goal is to be a true freshman and hopefully start,” he explained. “Whether it’s in the outfield, infield, pitcher, whatever. I just want to start on the team.”
Bailey and Campbell have similar aspirations of breaking school records in college, along with similar plans of acquiring occupations to help others in the future.
“I would want to for sure break the receiving record for Bemidji Sate,” Bailey said. “For my academic goals I would like to be a physical therapist, being able to you know, help others get well. And be able to just come back home, in Wisconsin and just be a PT around here.”
Campbell has a similar goal, saying “I would definitely like to put my mark on the record board, and I would also like to score in conference. Academic wise I would hope to be able to get my undergraduate degree and then go on to get my master’s and eventually become a registered dietician.”
