Every school year, only a handful of senior student-athletes have the opportunity to continue to play their sport after they graduate from high school. However, this opportunity is not given to them, it is earned. In Silver Creek’s 2023 class, there are multiple athletes who put in the work and had it pay off, allowing them to continue their passion after leaving Longmont.

Two seniors, Zach Schmeeckle and Patrick Fay will be competing at the next level somewhat close to home, in the neighboring state of Nebraska.

Schmeeckle is committed to play basketball at Doane University, in Nebraska. Schmeeckle settled on Doane after going on a visit and being offered a scholarship.

“[I] went on the visit, they offered me a scholarship, got some scholarship money, and I committed,” Schmeeckle said.

Schmeeckle played basketball all four years of high school for Silver Creek, as well as playing club basketball for the Colorado Titans, where he was able to develop his craft during the off-season.

Another Raptor will be in our neighboring state, with Patrick Fay committing to The University of Nebraska Kearney (UNK). Fay played football all four of his years at Silver Creek, and after playing football for seven years, Fay hasn’t had enough. He wanted to play in college, so he had to put himself out for recruitment.

“First I had to put my film together from senior year,” Fay said. “Then I got in contact with four coaches and then I sent out my film to these four coaches, and the UNK coach was the one that responded.”

UNK is only one state over, but Fay is looking forward to new experiences in Nebraska. When asked what he was looking forward to most, he responded with a smile on his face.

“Meeting up with some homies, making some new friends,” Fay said.

Knowing that all of their hard work paid off, both athletes have something to be extremely proud of, as only a small percentage of high school athletes continue playing in college.