18 Manatee County athletes sign early National Letters of Intent

EAST MANATEE -- For Bethaney Keen, signing her National Letter of Intent to the University of South Florida on Thursday in the media center at Braden River High School was a relief and also a realization. The Braden River first baseman has been committed to USF since her sophomore year, so this was just a final milestone in the recruiting process.

"It's relieving," Keen said, "but to actually make it official is like, wow, I finally did it and everything like that. It's finally coming true."

Keen was one of four Pirates to sign with Division I schools Thursday and one of more than 20 players around the area who will be officially signing on with colleges during the early signing period. She chose the Bulls in part because of the opportunity to play for Ken Eriksen, who is also the head coach of the U.S. national team. USF also wasn't deterred by Keen's 5-foot-6 frame and will allow her to play first base.

TYLER DYSON -- The BRHS baseball star called Florida his dream school and as soon as he was offered by the Gators before the start of the school year he knew it would be a choice. The infielder made it official Thursday, signing NLI to UF. He's a lifelong Florida fan and his older brother currently attends the school. Dyson, who will play third base and pitch for the Gators, ultimately chose UF over Clemson.

LINDA ROSS -- One of Keen's two teammates to sign National Letters of Intent, Ross officially signed with Stetson. The shortstop helped Braden River finish second in Class 7A-District 10 last season and reach the region quarterfinals.

KYLIE TOLER -- The third Braden River softball player Thursday signed with East Tennessee State, choosing the Buccaneers over Florida, Seton Hall and Lehigh. Toler, a third baseman and catcher, was also a teammate of Keen's on the Tampa Mustangs and claimed a national championship during the summer.

"It's really cool to do it together because we've all grown up together," Toler said Thursday.

MANATEE HIGH SCHOOL

JACQUI ARMER -- Armer, a 2014 All-Area first teamer and one of two senior starters for Manatee volleyball this season, officially signed with Louisiana State this week, although the Hurricanes didn't hold a ceremony. The middle blocker helped guide the Canes to their first state title in 2014 and brought Manatee to the state semifinal this year. Armer led the Hurricanes in blocks this season and finished third in kills.

HALEY COULTER -- The other senior on the Canes' state semifinalist team, Coulter made her verbal commitment to Tulsa official this week. Last year's All-Area Player of the Year once again led Manatee in kills this season and also had the most digs. Coulter was also a PrepVolleyball.com All-American in 2014.

SYDNEY BRITT -- Britt, who was an All-Area honorable mention in 2014 for cross country, verbally committed to Division II Mars Hill University this week and officially signed with the North Carolina school this week. Britt ran her final cross country race for Manatee at the Class 4A-District 8 meet, where she finished 24th with a time of 21:30.04 in the 5K race.

LAKEWOOD RANCH HIGH SCHOOL

KYRA KLARKOWSKI -- The University of Central Florida-bound outfielder led Lakewood Ranch softball in nearly every offensive category last year and was a first-team All-Area selection. Klarkowski, who also played for the national champion Tampa Mustangs, batted .429 for Ranch last year with six home runs, a 535 on-base percentage and .860 slugging percentage. Klarkowski officially signed to UCF in a ceremony with four classmates.

DANIEL ERLENMEYER -- Erlenmeyer officially signed with North Carolina State swimming this year and will try to defend his 500-yard freestyle state championship Saturday in Stuart. Erlenmeyer, who won the Class 3A state title last year, is the top seed at the Class 4A final with a time of 4:30.38. He's also the No. 3 seed in the 200 freestyle.

MADISON JEAN -- Jean will also go for a state championship Saturday for the Mustangs as the No. 2 seed in the 100 butterfly. Her time of 55.89 seconds is 1.26 behind the top seed. Jean, who was the All-Area girls swimmer of the year in 2014, officially signed with Florida Gulf Coast University.

REIDE RYANS -- Ryans was an All-Area honorable mention last season after running in three events at the Class 3A state meet in Jacksonville and she officially signed with FIU. Ryans finished third at state in the 100-meter hurdles, sixth in the 400 relay and ninth in the 1600 relay. Lakewood Ranch's girls finished third overall as a team.

MADDIE BIGGS -- The catcher was another member of the Tampa Mustangs' national championship and signed with Division II Palm Beach Atlantic University. Biggs was an All-Area honorable mention in the spring and paired her successful high school career with an impressive run with her club team to land at the West Palm Beach school.

PALMETTO HIGH SCHOOL

TYLER HENNING -- Palmetto will hold its officially signing ceremony Monday and three baseball players plan on signing their National Letters of Intent, including Henning. The 6-foot-2, 175-pound first baseman plans to sign with Division II Salem International University in West Virginia.

ALDEN BLANEY -- An outfielder, Blaney will join Henning by signing Monday with Salem International. Blaney was named to the 18U BCS Finals All-Tournament team this summer when he posted a .273/.333/.636 triple slash line in 12 plate appearances with the Palmetto Baseball Club in Fort Myers.

BRANDON LAM -- The 5-foot-6 outfielder also plans to sign with a Division II school Tuesday when he inks his NLI with Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, N.C. Lam, who played for Lakewood Ranch in the spring, has a career .327 on-base percentage.

BAYSHORE HIGH SCHOOL

LaSHARA JAMES -- James  will be playing at South Florida next year with Keen. James, who signed with USF on Thursday, posted an area-best .638 batting average in the spring while playing catcher, second base and outfield, and was a first-team All-Area selection.

SOUTHEAST HIGH SCHOOL

REBECCA BOESEN -- Southeast is planning a ceremony in the school television studio Friday where Boesen will sign to play softball with Division II Young Harris College in Georgia. Boesen was an all-state selection in 2014.

OUT-OF-DOOR ACADEMY

M'BALIA BANGOURA -- A Class 1A state champion in tennis this spring, Bangoura will officially sign with Nebraska on Friday at Out-of-Door Academy. Bangoura was an All-Area honorable mention in the spring and is a five-star recruit, according to TennisRecruiting.net.

This story was originally published November 12, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "18 Manatee County athletes sign early National Letters of Intent."