Minnesota’s top high school swimmers Drew Ploof, Libby Bakker and Annabelle Wentzel explain their decision to compete together at Missouri

With college commitment deadlines looming, Libby Bakker didn’t talk about it much with fellow Aquajets swim team members Drew Ploof and Annabelle Wentzel, but still checked in about the possibility of going to college together.

In the end, all three decided to become members of Missouri’s swim and dive team.

“Once I committed, I knew [Ploof] was talking [to coaches] there, and I was like, ‘So are you gonna go?’” she said with a laugh.

Now that everyone has committed, Bakker, who attends Maple Grove, is excited to have a built-in Minnesota community in Missouri.

Ploof, who attends Eden Prairie, and Wentzel, who goes to Minnetonka, make up three-fifths of the Tigers’ senior signing class this year. Ploof and Bakker celebrated signing day on Wednesday at their respective schools, while Wentzel was recognized by the Skippers in December.

“It’s really exciting, because you’ll know some people there, so you won’t just not have any friends,” Bakker said. “You’ll have a bunch of people there.”

While their swim careers will continue together at a consistently competitive program that produced two Paris Olympians, the Aquajets club team was where their journeys first started to overlap.

“I know them really well,” Bakker said. “We’re in the same lanes most of the time. We practice every day together.”

Wentzel added that it’s been nice to “lean on each other” as the trio navigates pre-arrival tasks.

They will join six Minnesotans who competed for the Tigers last year. Ploof reached out and asked questions to former Aquajets swimmers now at Missouri as he decided between his four final schools.

Specializing in butterfly events, his goal is to qualify for the NCAA championships all four years of college.

“It’s a pretty high goal,” said Ploof, who has set multiple national age group records. “But I think I’ll be able to do it with the training of Mizzou.”

His fellow Minnesotans will also be leaving successful high school careers as they head to Missouri.

Wentzel won a Class 2A team title with Minnetonka in November, and holds the school record for the 100 fly.

“When I got on my visit and saw the campus and met with the team, I instantly knew it was the place for me,” she said about her decision to commit to Missouri.

Bakker won the Class 2A, Section 5 title with Maple Grove last season while captaining the team. She took home two section titles at the meet to bring her total individual section championships to five.

Charles Vanier grew up on the sidelines of Gophers wrestling competitions. His dad knew Minnesota All-American wrestlers Dylan and Jayson Ness, so the Vaniers frequented meets in Dinkytown.

Now, Vanier’s family and friends will be able to watch him compete just as easily. The Eden Prairie senior officially signed with the nationally ranked Gophers on Wednesday. He chose Minnesota in January over three other schools.

“It’s super-exciting, because I could have my parents come instead of [them] driving like, seven hours away. It’s just 30 minutes away,” Vanier said.

As a junior, Vanier finished as state runner-up in the 139-pound weight class, and placed third as a freshman at 106 pounds. He is currently 30-1 this season for the Eagles.

In early December, Damarius Russell from Waseca and Josh Wedel from Chaska signed their athletic documents to play football at South Dakota State. When SDSU coach Jimmy Rogers departed for Washington State weeks later, the two recruits decided to follow, and on Wednesday, the pair made their commitment official to the Pac-12 school.

Under NCAA rules, if a head coach leaves after the early signing day period, players that have signed to that school but have not yet begun full-time attendance at the college can request to be released from the signed athletic aid contract.

Natalie McNeil is in rare company as an athlete committed to two Division I sports. The Eden Prairie senior will play both hockey and golf at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn.

McNeil, a defender, grew up on the rink. She added golf later, as a teenager. Her dad told her she was a natural and could go D-I in both.

“Dad, that’s silly,” McNeil said.

But as talks with Sacred Heart’s hockey program developed, McNeil reached out to their golf team, too. In August, she committed to the university where her sister, Paige, is a fifth-year hockey player.

“I like to push myself,” McNeil said. “I don’t like to sit around and do nothing. I always want to be active.”

McNeil will play golf from August to October, switch to hockey, then hit the links again from March to June.

Three football players — CJ Sanderson from Blaine, Reece Hunt of Lakeville North and Kellen Binder of Centennial — received scholarship offers from Division-I Murray State a few weeks before officially signing Wednesday. Binder, a tight end, and Hunt, a defensive end, both recently took official visits to the campus before committing. Sanderson, also a defensive end, was offered in December and committed in mid-January.