Spalding High School senior Kelly Galligan (pink shirt) gathers with friends after a volleyball game last fall. Galligan will play at Bentley next year.
Archbishop Spalding High School seniors Nick Shackelford and Kelly Galligan will each compete at the
collegiate level in their respective sports next year.
Shackelford, a four-year varsity football player, committed to Albright College (Reading, PA) earlier this month and Galligan, a volleyball standout, chose Bentley College (Boston, MA) this week.
"Nick goes 100 miles per hour at all times," football coach Mike Whittles said. "I wish I could package his heart because it was as huge as his chest."
Shackelford, a 5-foot-10, 170-pounder, tallied 92 tackles last fall, which was second most on the team. The Cavaliers advanced to their third straight MIAA B Conference championship. On offense, he contributed as a slot back with 320 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Shackelford averaged 5.6 yards per carry.
His most important run came during Spalding's 21-19 win over St. Mary's at Navy-Marine Corp Memorial Stadium. He scored on a 65-yard run, which capped a three-touchdown rally the Cavaliers used to pull out the win over their rivals.
"I saw daylight and my grandfather always tells me to run like a pack of bees are coming after you and that's what I did," Shackelford, who finished with 90 rushing yards on seven second-half carries, said after the game. "We never, not for one second, thought we would lose this game. We never lost hope."
Galligan was the go-to player for the Cavaliers during a season when the team advanced to the IAAM A Conference finals. She finished her senior year with a team-high 168 kills to go along with 149 digs and 48 aces. The mobile 5-foot-10 standout had a presence in front of the net but also played on the back line and was one of the team's top servers.
"(Brently) is a great business school and was one of my top choices," said Galligan, who served over 94 percent last fall. "My dream of playing in college came true at the city I want to be in – Boston!"
Galligan started her sports career at Spalding by playing tennis. She converted full-time to volleyball after a growth spurt her freshman year and was named team captain as a senior.
"Kelly is a well-rounded volleyball player," volleyball coach Scott Rombach said. "She seldom came out during a game. She was able to use her timing and ability to read defenses to really make every hit an effective one."