![MORE THAN A GAME. With two diving catches in the outfield, the Lions showed up defensively, aiding in their victory over the Pacers. One catch was made by Atwood, and the other by McGraw. Throughout the game, the Lions knew that it wasn’t just about their victory today. “I think [playing for cancer] makes it bigger than just a game,” McGraw said. “Knowing that you have a bigger impact in this world than just who you are as one person.”](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/I70A1454-1-1200x800.jpg)
![Students in the National Art Honor Society work on the Mount Hood mural on the window of SouthLake Church. The students brought a variety of paints and mixed their own custom colors. “Instead of brushstrokes, we’re doing more dabbing, because it gives [a] better impression of tree foliage, rather than looking like actual brush strokes, because if we’re painting trees, we need it to look like trees,” Crawford said.](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/IMG_2397-1200x900.jpg)
*WEB CONTINUATION: This article originally appeared in Volume 105 Issue 4 of our news magazine, Amplifier.
According to the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA), just 7% of the nation’s eight million high school athletes move on to play college sports. At the high school, there is a tradition of sending their elite athletes to the next level—Payton Pritchard of the Boston Celtics, Jackson Shelstad of the Oregon Ducks, and Sam Leavitt of the Arizona State Sun Devils, who have all risen to college and professional-level stardom, are just a few examples of the Lions who have continued their athletic and academic career in college.
This year’s senior class continues this tradition, with 31 athletes who have committed to continuing their education while playing their sport in college. They will be representing 14 different sports, spread across 22 schools and 11 states from Hawaii to Illinois.
