By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Sports Editor

CHELSEA – Wednesday, Feb. 6, marked a special day across the country as high school athletes signed on the dotted line to pledge their intent to colleges, and at Chelsea High School that was no different.

Eight different athletes from three different sports all signed letters of intent to seven different colleges.

Those athletes were Chloe Eidson, Nolan Forehand, Lexie Duca, Claire Guillen, Carson Reeves, Lando Nichols, Anthony Netuno and Emmalyne Zaiontz.

Of those eight athletes, five of them were from the sport of soccer, as both Chelsea’s boys and girls have done a great job of developing talent the last few years, while the girls won a state championship in 2017.

Those athletes were Duca, Guillen and Reeves for the girls, and Nichols and Netuno for the boys.

Both Duca and Guillen are going to remain teammates at the next level, as they’ll both be attending the Univeristy of North Alabama to continue their academic and athletic careers.

Duca was named an honorable mention player on Chelsea’s 2017 team, while going on to improve and be named to the All-County first team last year.

During her junior season, Duca posted seven goals, but more importantly added 20 assists to lead the team and get others involved throughout the season.

Guillen was also a key piece to the team posting nine goals and six assists to earn an honorable mention on the All-County team.

Reeves was also important to the Hornets last year, and will look to jump onto the All-State team, as Chelsea seems primed to be one of the county’s best teams in 2019. She signed her letter of intent to join Spring Hill College in Mobile.

For the boys, Nichols has been a back-to-back member of the All-County First Team after combining for 38 goals and 21 assists in the last two seasons.

Nichols will now continue his playing days at Itawamba Community College where he should go in and make an immediate impact.

Nettuno will continue his soccer playing days at the Univeristy of Montevallo and will be a welcome addition for the Falcons. As a sophomore, Nettuno was named to an honorable mention member on the All-County team before breaking out for 20 goals and 10 assists in 22 starts as a junior.

Now, with both Nettuno (midfield) and Nichols (forward) back for their senior seasons, Chelsea has to feel good about its odds this year with those two leaders.

The other three athletes representing Chelsea at signing day were for the sports of softball, baseball and golf.

Eidson, who is headed to Jacksonville State University to play softball, has been a huge piece to Chelsea’s lineup. She will be a welcome addition to the Gamecocks after helping lead the Hornets deep into the state tournament each of the last two seasons.

Forehand, who is headed to Lawson State, was a consistent player for Chelsea’s baseball team last year and will be looked at as a leader for the Hornets this season, as the team has high hopes of building off recent success.

The final athlete to sign was Zaiontz, which was a special one for Chelsea, Zaiontz and her family.

Zaiontz, who is headed to Huntingdon College to play golf, is believed to be the first Chelsea women’s golfer to go on to play at the collegiate level. It’s a special accomplishment for an athlete that put in a ton of work to get to such a special occasion.