WATERBORO — Kenzy Ouellette and Skylar Renaud have been working hard over the past several years to get to this moment.
The two Massabesic seniors wanted a chance to compete at the college level — and on Monday evening all of that effort paid off.
Ouellette signed her National Letter of Intent to play basketball for St. Anselm College and Renaud became an official member of the Southern New Hampshire University lacrosse program’s recruiting class during a signing ceremony at Massabesic High School.
“I’ve been dreaming of this day since I (started) playing basketball,” said Ouellette.
Ouellette, who is a three-time All-SMAA selection, made history in signing with Division II St. Anselm as she became the first Massabesic basketball player — male or female — to receive a full athletic scholarship.
“I’m really happy for her … she certainly earned it,” said Massabesic girls basketball coach Chris Aube.
Aube wasn’t surprised to see Ouellette get plenty of interest from college coaches.
“She’s very polished. I think she really understands the game probably more so than many kids her age and I think that will help her at the next level,” said Aube.
It didn’t take Ouellette long to realize that St. Anselm was the perfect place for her.
“The second I stepped (onto campus), I was like ‘I could see myself here for the next four years,’” said Ouellette, who enters her senior basketball season with 892 career points. “It was just a gut feeling and I had a great relationship with the coaches right away, so that really sold it for me.”
Renaud felt like part of the family when she visited SNHU.
“I think it was the team environment that I saw when I went there and it just really stood out to me how they brought me in as a teammate,” said Renaud, who has helped the Mustangs reach three straight state finals and win one Class A championship.
Massabesic girls lacrosse coach Brooks Bowen is confident Renaud has what it takes to excel at the next level.
“I think obviously she’s a great athlete. She competes in three sports year round and she brings a little bit of diversity to her game on the lacrosse field. She just does the things that we don’t coach,” said Bowen. “Every now and then, you run into an athlete that has that ability and has that feel. She communicates well with her teammates, makes adjustments on the field during games which is indispensable if you’re a lacrosse coach standing on the sideline. She’s just one of those special people that doesn’t come along every day.”
Renaud gave plenty of credit to Bowen and Massabesic assistant coach Jason Tremblay for helping her get to this point.
“I mean words can’t even describe how much they’ve done for me,” said Renaud, who has already scored 100 career points. “I don’t do an AAU (lacrosse team), so they were kind of like my go-to and they’ve really helped me so much throughout this whole process.”
The future Division II athletes were thrilled to be surrounded by family, friends and teammates on Monday.
“It’s pretty awesome. I’m super glad that all my family came to support me … and Bowen was here and I’m really glad all my friends were here,” said Renaud.
“I’ve been super hyped all day and for everybody to come means a lot to me,” Ouellette said.
What made the signing ceremony even more special for Ouellette and Renaud was the fact that they were able to share the moment.
“We’re best friends. It’s pretty awesome and pretty cool that we both got scholarships and we’re both getting to play our favorite sport in college,” said Renaud.
“It’s incredible. I mean not many people do it, (especially) at Masabesic, so it’s just awesome to be signing next to your best friend,” added Ouellette.
— Sports Editor Pat McDonald can be reached at pmcdonald@journaltribune.com or at 780-9017. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.