Seven Southwest DeKalb athletes signed scholarships May 9 and 10 at ceremonies at the school.
Three players signed on May 9 and four track athletes signed on May 10.
In the May 9 signing ceremony, Sydnee Walton signed an acrobatics and tumbling scholarship with the University of Oregon, which won the NCATA national championship this year. Walton is a four-year honor roll student and a member of the Beta Club, French Club, National Honors Society and Future Business Leaders of America. She also holds the school record in the pole vault.
Basketball players Nekia Sockwell signed with Clark Atlanta University and Jasmine Coleman signed with Wallace State Community College in Alabama. Sockwell, a point guard, led the team in scoring with 10.1 points per game. Coleman, a forward, averaged 7.7 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. She also had a team-high 63 blocks on the season. The pair helped the Panthers reach the Class AAAA state championship game.
The following day, senior track athletes Greciana Cooper, Demetria Dickens, Charlotte Williams and Victoria Perez also signed scholarships.
Cooper, a four-year letter-winner in track and cross country, signed with Kennesaw State and will participate in both sports. She holds the school record in the 5K and 3,200 meters, and has a part of two state track championships. Cooper, who sports a 3.3 grade point average, is a two-time Region 6-AAAA champion in the 800 and won the 1,600 region title once.
Dickens, who will graduate with a 3.7 GPA, signed with North Carolina A&T and will compete as a thrower. She won the shot put and discus as a senior this year at the 6-AAAA meet, then placed third in the shot put and fourth in the discus in the AAAA state meet. Dickens also was part of Southwest’s state championship team in 2011. She plans to major in architectural engineering.
Perez, who ran track and cross country for three years, signed a cross country scholarship with Point University in West Point, Ga. She finished in the top 20 at the Region 6-AAAA cross country meet over the past three years. She also participated in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 on the track team.
Williams ran track for four seasons and cross country for two, and signed a track scholarship with Arkansas State. She was a member of three DeKalb County championship track teams and the 2011 state Class AAAA championship track team. In her junior and senior seasons, Williams was part of the Panthers’ sprint medley relay team that was ranked No. 1 in the nation. She placed sixth in the state meet in the 400 as a junior and was the Region 6-AAAA champion in that event as a senior.