CHEYENNE, WY – Another ten athletes from Laramie County Community College have made their decisions on moving on to the next level. Four men’s soccer and women’s basketball players joined a pair of women’s soccer athletes in signing at schools ranging from NCAA Division I to NAIA.

Women’s Soccer

The opening signings came from sophomores Sophie Osman and Gracie Lopez on Friday afternoon when they made commitments to West Texas A&M and Kansas Wesleyan respectively.

Osman will be joining the Buffs on the heels of 14-4-4 campaign and a trip to the second round of the NCAA Division II tournament where they fell to top ranked Dallas Baptist. Osman is no stranger to postseason trips after making it to the national tournament with the Golden Eagles.

“I’m really glad I took the JUCO route because it gave me a taste of what is to come and I’m really excited for the future,” Osman said.

She wraps up her career with seven goals, including three game winners, and four assists for 18 points in her two seasons with LCCC.

For Lopez, the trip to Kansas Wesleyan was something that took some time to develop, but after playing in 26 games for Laramie County, the sophomore decided it wasn’t time to hang the cleats up yet.

“It was kind of a last-minute process because I didn’t know if I wanted to play on or not,” Lopez said. “After (Coach Arenas) came back it sparked my interest to play on again and he helped me a lot with the process. They seem super excited about next season and the coach seemed excited about me coming and I guess that was pretty contagious.”

She will be joining a team that just hired a new coach after going 11-8-1 during the 2022 season including a 10-1-1 record in conference play. The Coyotes made the NAIA national tournament last year before falling in the opening round.

Men’s Soccer

Three Laramie County men’s soccer players will be teaming up together for the Yellowjackets of Montana State University Billings next season as Isaac Perez, Edgar Garcia, and Louis Castillo all signed their letters of intent.

The trio will be looking to help turn around the team’s recent results after they went 5-9-3 during the 2022 season and have only won nine games in the past two seasons.

MSU Billings will be getting a good range of talent from the three. Garcia brings the most explosive offense of the group with three goals last season to go with two assists. Perez added two goals and an assist during his career, however his offense was limited after he was used on defense during the end of the last season for LCCC.

“The experience of going to a JUCO, I feel like not many people get to experience that,” Garcia said. “I think the relationships I built with not only my teammates but the coaching staff as well, I just think I’m glad I came here.”

“I’m glad that our team was so close,” Perez echoed. “

Castillo brings the most experience of the three to MSUB having played in 29 games during his two-year career with Laramie County.

“These guys are probably the closest friends that I’ve made here,” Castillo said of the group moving on together. “

The Golden Eagles are also sending a second men’s soccer player to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference where Brayan Aguirre will be playing for the Regis Rangers out of Denver.

Aguirre had several offers on the table including a Division I offer but he said he felt like the decision to stay closer to home in Colorado will pay off.

“My decision to go to Regis was based off of staying close to my family,” Aguirre said. “It means a lot to be close to my family and I fell like that’s the way I would perform my best.”

Aguirre leaves after playing in 25 games for LCCC during his two years with the school as a key component to their defense.

Women’s Basketball

After a record setting season for the Golden Eagles women’s basketball team they are sending a strong contingent to the next level of four-year schools as four have signed their letters of intent.

The only Division I commit out of the group is Jamy de Kock who made her commitment to the University of Texas – Commerce. De Kock will be joining a team that made it to the semi-finals of the Southland Conference tournament in their first year as a Division I program.

The native of the Netherlands will be bringing a strong shooting game after averaging 50.2 percent from the field for LCCC including shooting 40 percent from three during her career.

“When I was walking on campus I just thought this was the right fit,” De Kock said before praising Head Coach Ayana McWilliams for helping prepare them. “It really was coaches focus getting us ready for the next level and I think she did a really good job in that.”

Making the shortest journey from Laramie County of all the women’s basketball signees is Halle Hester who will be playing for the Roadrunners of Metro State University after her standout career as a Golden Eagle left her sitting in the top five of most shooting categories for LCCC.

As she heads to Denver, Hester will be added to a roster that finished 16-14 last season before bowing out of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference semifinals to the Colorado School of Mines.

“I really liked the coaching philosophy,” Hester said about the fit. “I really liked some of the girls I met and we also play a lot in Utah so my family gets to come see me when we play so I think that’s a big thing too.”

Andraya Dimas also was picked up to continue her career after a pair of years with the Golden Eagles after graduating from South High School in Cheyenne. The local prospect appeared in 24 games her sophomore season for LCCC and averaged 50 percent shooting from the field.

She will be playing for Park University (AZ) and will be joining a team that went 13-13 last season.

“It’s really about new opportunities and getting to further my basketball career,” Dimas said. “Being able to play at home has been a really big thing for me. Just having my friends and my family all be here to watch my games but now I’m going to change that up and go to Arizona.”

Finally, after only one year at LCCC freshman Shannon Niles also signed her letter of intent to play for Oakwood University in Alabama. The move brings Niles closer to home as the native of Stone Mountain, Georgia will hope to add a spark to a program that went 5-22 last season.

Niles has the ability to as she was a leader for Laramie County as a freshman, starting 20 games for the Golden Eagles and averaging six points, two assists, and three rebounds in her inaugural campaign.  

“I just wanted to be close to home,” Niles said about the move. “Just being back home and closer to family and allowing my family to see me play college basketball. My little brother is going to be a senior in high school so I just want to be there for his last year of high school.”

The Golden Eagles have now had 14 athletes sign to play at various levels of four-year athletics. The most have come from men’s soccer with five. Four have come from women’s soccer and women’s basketball and one signed from volleyball.