It’s official—two Cranbrook lacrosse players signed the dotted line on Monday night to commit the next four years of their lives to NCAA competition at their respective universities.
Tanner Rennich and Dakota Hollister put their signature to their letters of intent during a celebration at East Side Mario’s on Monday evening. Rennich has committed to Robert Morris University, near Pittsburgh, Pa, while Hollister is off to Bellarmine University in Louisville, Ky.
Surrounded by family, friends and coaches, it was a relaxed atmosphere in the restaurant as the two sat down to put down their signatures.
“It’s a sigh of relief,” said Rennich, on how he felt when he penned his name. “I’ve been working on this for so long and it’s finally all coming together. I’m just really excited for the whole experience—it’s going to be pretty cool.”
Rennich signed with Robert Morris University, after considering offers from Fairfield University in New England and Villanova University near Philadelphia.
Robert Morris had the right degree program he wants to pursue—mechanical engineering—and the lacrosse program is very strong, Rennich said.
“I watched two of their practices and it seems like their program is a really upbeat program and they don’t want to waste any time in practice, they want to learn as much as they can in practice and they value their time a lot around with the coaches.
“It’s pretty intense.”
Rennich is taking a break from high-level lacrosse until the new year, where he will head down to Port Coquitlam and play Jr. A with the Saints.
Hollister, who had many other offers from other colleges and universities, chose Bellarmine after weighing options from Rochester Institute of Technology and Dartmouth.
“I knew I was going to sign it—I verbally committed, but now it feels different, knowing that I’ve actually signed it now,” said Hollister.
“…I only went on one visit, and that was to Bellarmine, and I committed [verbally] a few weeks later.”
He’s planning to study business administration while playing Division I NCAA lacrosse with the Bellarmine Knights.
It was the atmosphere around the team, good coaching staff and a few Canadian connections that tilted the scales, said Hollister.
“I wanted somewhere where I wouldn’t get homesick right away or feel out of place,” said Hollister. “There are quite a few of the guys from Canada and there are quite a few kids committing from my year in Canada.”
Hollister has been down in the U.S. over the last couple weekends, playing with top-level high school lacrosse players. He won a tournament in Naples, Fl., playing with the Adrenaline Tropics.
The 2013 NCAA schedule is not out yet, however, Robert Morris and Bellarmine met last February, so it’s safe to assume Hollister and Rennich will play against each other at some point in 2014.