Eight Del Rio seniors sign to play college sports
Mia Hernandez chose UTSA after a summer cheer camp, one of eight Del Rio High seniors honored as they headed to college sports.
Eight Del Rio High School seniors turned Carl P. Guys Memorial Gymnasium into a launch point for the next stage of their athletic careers, with signings that stretched from cheerleading to golf and sent Del Rio talent on to college programs in Texas and beyond.
Among the seniors recognized May 24, 2026, cheer co-captain Mia Hernandez said a summer cheer camp helped seal her decision to continue at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Baseball player Alex Richter headed to Our Lady of the Lake University, and two-sport athlete Antonio Padilla will compete in both cross-country and track there. Samuel Curtis is committed to run for Texas A&M-Kingsville. The ceremony also included four other Del Rio seniors whose next steps were celebrated by family, coaches and teammates gathered in the gym.
The event showed how Del Rio High has built a steady pipeline to college athletics. The school’s signees have become a spring fixture at Carl P. Guys Memorial Gymnasium, with seven student-athletes signing there in 2024 and five seniors doing the same in 2023. That kind of consistency matters in a community where high school sports are one of the most visible routes to higher education and where each new signing gives younger athletes a concrete example of what is possible.
Support systems were on display throughout the ceremony. Padilla credited his parents, head cross-country coach Vicky Perez and the Code Blue Track Club, underscoring how families, school coaches and outside training resources can shape a student-athlete’s path. Nearly all of the seniors were joined by family members, and each was encouraged to address the crowd, making the morning as much about community recognition as individual achievement.
Del Rio’s athletic leadership has treated signing day as more than a photo opportunity. In earlier ceremonies, San Felipe Del Rio CISD Athletic Director Frenchey McCrea Jr. said the events are exciting and help younger athletes aspire to the same opportunity. This year’s group reinforced that message at a time when college costs, recruiting access and travel opportunities can shape who gets to continue competing. For Del Rio High, the gym’s signing-day tradition has become a public measure of how well the school is preparing students to move from local competition to college-level opportunity.
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