Signing day features five Republic athletes

EmmaLee Essary, Kailey Manes, Kaemyn Bekemeier, and Claire Esther committed to college athletic programs on National Signing Day. (By David Brazeal)

Lincoln Davidson (center) with parents and Robin and Teresa Davidson. (By David Brazeal)
 

Five Republic athletes have committed to play college sports. Kaemyn Bekemeier will play basketball at Missouri State University. Kailey Manes and Claire Esther will attend the University of Texas-Tyler to play volleyball. EmmaLee Essary will play softball at Chipola College in Florida. Lincoln Davidson will attend Lindenwood University in St. Charles to play lacrosse.
Bekemeier has been verbally committed to Missouri State since last year, but made it official. She's already Republic's all-time leading scorer and owns seven other school records as the basketball season begins.
I picked Missouri State just because my family is near and I have a big support system, and I would love for them to be able to watch me," Bekemeier said. "Also because Springfield loves Missouri State and everyone's always cheering them on. So being able to know I'm going to... have the community's backing and to be able to represent the state I've always lived in, instead of the town, is going to be really fun."
Manes said she wanted to attend a college outside of Missouri, so when UT-Tyler's coaches reached out, it was a natural fit.
"I also chose UT-Tyler because they have such a competitive conference and they've always ranked high in their conference," she said. "Last year, they... made the Sweet 16, so I thought they can only get better from there. And I really wanted to be a part of that."
Esther will join her teammate in Tyler, Texas, for some of the same reasons.
"It's going to be super challenging, and that's what I want. I want to push myself. So when Kailey committed, I'm like, 'Okay, this is just meant to be.'"
EmmaLee Essary was "probably the most feared hitter" in the Central Ozark Conference, according to coach Lee Dishman. She's also looking forward to a high level of competition at Chipola College. "It's a D-1 juco. During the fall in their off-season, they play LSU, Clemson, Auburn, (and) Arizona. This is a school that's really going to help me get to where I want to be, and that's hopefully playing in a College World Series for the NCAA."
Lincoln Davidson is the first player from Republic's lacrosse team to earn a Division I scholarship. He said he chose Lindenwood University because it's relatively close to home, compared to many of the other big lacrosse schools, which are on the East Coast.
He said his experience with lacrosse in Republic taught him the importance of "work ethic, and how hard you have to work to get where you want to be."

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