DaVoult signs to swim for Missouri’s William Jewell College

Gage DaVoult made Outlaw history Monday when he signed a letter of intent to swim at William Jewell College in Missouri.

DaVoult is the first Marlow High School swim athlete to sign for a future swim career at college. Marlow’s swim program began four years ago, with DaVoult as a freshman. This year, he and teammates Luke Banks, Karsten Terrell, Morgan Warren (seniors) and Logan Woods (junior) achieved their dream of competing at the Oklahoma State Championship. The relay team of Banks, Terrell, Woods and DaVoult placed 2nd, runner-up with only .14 seconds difference from 1st place. They had a time of 1:33.41 – behind Carl Albert’s 1:33.27.

For DaVoult, it was an amazing ending to his high school swim career and he credits the entire community of Marlow, the high school and other area teams and coaches. MHS swim coaches are Kristen Terrill and Julie McCauley.

“This whole time we’ve been competing in this relay, I’ve really just wanted to bring the town a state championship in swim because it’s never been done before,” DaVoult said Monday after his signing. “That’s what I wanted the most, to show the school what we could do. I really loved wearing the Marlow cap. It was awesome.”

At Monday’s signing, DaVoult was surrounded by family, friends, fellow teammates from both swim and Cross Country, and even swimmers from Lawton, and area coaches.

Since starting in swim his freshman year, DaVoult has made many friendships from other schools.

In his search for a college that had a swim program, he visited many and even had some doubts. That was until he went to Jewell. He said the minute he stepped on the campus and began meeting people, he knew that was where he wanted to be.

“I’m excited. I’ve been on a small team my whole life. I’ll be performing at the next level. It’s a different atmosphere and the team will have 20 boys. It immediately felt like home. I started this my freshman year and I am excited to see how good I can get,” DaVoult said. As for narrowly missing the state championship, he and the others have no regrets.

“We wanted it so bad, but we have nothing to be disappointed about – it was awesome and I’m proud of my teammates.”

Cross Country Coach Mikey Eaves was one of the many coaches who were at the signing to show their support for DaVoult.

“As a coach, you always want to see them be successful, even the kids that don’t go to college, they become successful people, men and women. To see one of them go on an athletic scholarship is always a great accomplishment as a coach. You know, you’re proud just like a father,” Eaves said. “It’s a very cool deal. He was a good kid for us for the four years. He got injured and wasn’t able to run his senior year, but he’s a great kid and he’ll be a great addition to Jewell.”

DaVoult’s parents, Chelsea and Gary and his younger sister, Greer, 13, were with him for the moment.