Three Saints Commit on Signing Day

Amaya Dowdy, Rachael Mongeau, and Darius Kipyego with their families as they sign their National Letters of Intent to commit to college athletic programs.

 

Three Saints took the next big step in their athletic and academic careers on Friday when they officially signed with colleges for the 2020-2021 year.

Amaya Dowdy will join the women’s basketball program at University of Massachusetts Lowell, Rachael Mongeau has committed to the track program at Monmouth University in New Jersey, and Darius Kipyego will join the track program at Iowa State University. The three seniors signed their National Letters of Intent, with family, friends and coaches proudly looking on, in a socially distant event at Saint Raphael Academy.

In the best kept secret at Saints, Darius revealed his choice of Iowa State at the signing, to the cheers of his teammates and classmates. He was also offered admission to University of Southern California, Penn State and University of Virginia.

Darius and Rachael have been the faces of the boys and girls running program at Saints. Both are three-season athletes who have received multiple All-State and All-New England honors, and for Darius, All-American honors, leading up to this momentous day.

Darius won the individual Class C championship again last week, with a time of 16:16.32. In addition, Darius is also ranked No. 1 in the world for U18 800-meter runners by the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF). He also brought home a silver medal in the 800-meter at the summer 2019 Pan-American U20 Championships.

Rachel has two individual Class C cross country championships under her belt, and two second-place finishes in her freshmen and senior years. She was the top runner in the RIIL Class C indoor track championship last season, taking first in the 1000- and 1500-meter races with times of 3:10.51 and 4:55.97, respectively, and setting personal records in the process. Regrettably, the state shut down the spring sports season due to coronavirus.

Amaya has been a force on the girls basketball team since her freshmen year. She was earned All-State recognition multiple times, with a First Team spot last season. She hit her 1,000th point in her junior year, helping Saints to win the Division 1-C title, before the team’s run at the division and state tournaments were interrupted when coronavirus cancelled many winter sports playoffs. She also received a Player of the Year recognition from the Providence Journal and was named MVP of the Woonsocket Call/Pawtucket Times All-Area Girls Basketball Team.

“Saint Raphael Academy athletics' primary commitment is to provide an opportunity for student-athletes to fully develop physically, mentally, socially, as well as spiritually. Student-athletes like Amaya Dowdy, Rachael Mongeau, and Darius Kipyego have not only demonstrated fine personal character traits but also, more importantly, the value of dedication and sportsmanship,” said Erika Paiva, Saints’ athletic director. “It has been a pleasure and an honor to be both their teacher and now athletic director. Personally, I could not be prouder to call them fellow alumni when they graduate this spring.”