“I feel like that signature was the last sentence of this chapter of my life, and the first sentence in the new one,” said Middletown High School senior Mackenzie Noel. That signature was the official start to Noel’s and MHS senior Zach Welch’s collegiate sports careers, as both of them signed their National Letter of Intent (NLI) to play college sports. The NLI guarantees that the player will attend the school and play for that school in their sport for one year, thus locking the school in for at least one year of athletic scholarships. Zach Welch signed his letter of intent to play football with the Monmouth University Hawks, and Noel signed her letter of intent to play soccer with the University of North Carolina-Greensboro Spartans. As expected, the day was filled with emotions, this being the final step in each of these athletes’ exceptional high school careers. The emotions climaxed when MHS Girls Soccer Coach Heather Kline said a few words about Noel, and produced a heartfelt speech about the former Knight and future Spartan. For Noel, the moment was filled with emotions shared between her and her family. “I whispered to my Mom about 3 times that I was about to cry,” she said. For the Knights senior, she ends a high school career that included three 2A state championships, three straight years of being first team all-area, a 2012 First Team All-state Midfielder, a 2012 NSCAA first team All-South Scholar and the 2012 Frederick News Post Offensive Player of the Year. However, with all these accomplishments, Noel said this memory of signing the NLI still ranked pretty high. “I can’t even describe how exciting it was to be part of Middletown athletics,” said Noel. “The history, being part of three 2A state championships and scoring the game winning goal in 2010 were great. And this is right up there with it in my top moments.” For Welch, the day was one he had been waiting for, and, for a man who was nothing but calm and cool on the football field, he found the nerves getting to him during fourth period. “I started to sweat a little bit, and I was definitely anticipating it,” he said. Welch’s career is also carefully etched in the history of Middletown Knights football. Welch was one of the key players in the first two 2A football state championships and ends his career having broken eight school records, including most rushing yards in a game with 354 (also a Frederick County record), most career rushing yards (4,090), 2012 Consensus All-State, 2011 First Team All-State and school record for most rushing touchdowns (57).
Even with the hype of signing his NLI, Welch was more reminiscent on the years he had played there and the teammates who had supported him, which included the 20 or so teammates who were there to watch him sign his letter of intent.
“They’re just like your brothers. Seeing them here, supporting me, it means a lot. It shows how much they care,” Welch said about his teammates.
Welch’s and Noel’s NLI signings were the fifth and sixth this year, respectively, for MHS, with girls lacrosse players Blake Gastley (Furman), Katie Breeze (Robert Morris), Taylor Altomare (Hofstra), and Mariah Ginebra (Christopher Newport) all signing their NLI’s earlier this year.
As the day ended, the parents dispersed and the crowds left after seeing these two Middletown athletes officially finish their high school athletic careers. But, with all the memories they have, Welch’s and Noel’s time as a Middletown Knight will never end.
