2 San Marcos athletes sign their letters of intent

San Marcos High School’s Nayeli Granados and Jake Darling signed their letters of intent Wednesday.

Granados signed with St. Andrews and Darling signed with Harvard.

It was a day Granados was both excited for and yet had the jitters for as well.

“I was definitely nervous,” Granados said. “But I feel great.”

Head volleyball coach Megann Ollett was happy for Granados being able to follow her dream of playing at the next level.

“I was so excited,” Ollett said. “This has been a long-time dream of hers and is something she has really worked hard for. To see it come to fruition is really amazing and to see her go to a place where she can fit in.”

Despite St. Andrew being located in North Carolina, Granados felt this was the right place for her especially considering the relationship she was able to build with Knights Head Coach Tess Smith

“Their coach really inspired me,” Granados said. “She was very friendly on top of the weather being really nice over there.”

Ollett also knew the importance of Granados finding the best fit for her.

“She had talked to several coaches but this coach was the one who she connected with the most,” Ollett said. “[Granados] is really big on if she doesn’t feel comfortable with a coach so knowing she felt that way with St. Andrews volleyball program along with her studies moving forward seemed like a great fit for her. I’m excited she found a place.”

Granados now looks to prepare herself for the college level.

“I’m definitely going to practice more often to improve myself to be that D1 college athlete,” Granados said. “I’m very excited and nervous at the same time so it’s going to be a long journey.”

On the other side, Darling was very excited for his signing, which is something he has been waiting for.

“I’m very thrilled,” Darling said. “This is a day I’ve been looking forward to for my entire life. I’m just taking everything in and it’s all becoming very real to me.”

Interim Head Coach Kurtis Kloiber was happy to see Darling being able to sign with his dream school, knowing the path Darling has taken.

“I’m just extremely proud of him,” Kloiber said. “The journey he has been on since he got here and it has been a real fun thing to watch him develop. We talked to him about a lot of schools, including Harvard about a year ago. It really sparked his enthusiasm for everything and when it came to fruition you could see it in his eyes and face.”

After attending several camps with many prestigious schools in attendance, Harvard was the one Darling wanted to be apart of.

“One of the biggest camps that I went to was the Trinity Elite Camps which featured the Ivy League Schools along with Rice and Trinity,” Darling said. “I had a good camp and I was able to talk to a lot of the coaches and from there I was invited to tour the campuses and see what they had to offer. I ended up choosing Harvard because of their winning culture along with their academics being top notch.”

Using his past connections with a previous player who signed with the Crimson, Kloiber was able to help set up Darling with his dream school.

“We had a player over at Denton Guyer who signed at Harvard,” Kloiber said. “During the signing period, there was a defensive line coach that would come over and talk to us before then. When Jake said he was interested in Harvard, we contacted him to be in contact with Jake and [Jake] just lit up.”