Three Fernley athletes continuing careers in college

Robert Perea, The Fernley Reporter

Recent Fernley High School graduates Colton Ruby, A.C. Reyes and Grace DeLeon will each continue their athletic careers in college.

Ruby has signed to play baseball at Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Tex., Reyes will plat football at the University of Montana Western in Dillon, Mont. and DeLeon will run track and cross country for St. Mary’s College in Moraga, Calif.

Colton Ruby

Ruby, who also plays for the Reno Muckdogs Baseball Club, is a right-handed pitcher who transferred to Fernley from Whittell, where he was the Division IV Northern League Pitcher of the Year in 2015.

Ruby visited the Howard Payne campus in early spring, where he got to experience practices and a few games.

“I saw what the program was about and what they had to offer me,” Ruby said. “I really liked the coaches and the interaction with the players on my visit.”

Ruby plans to major in business and management in hopes of eventually working in sports management.

He said playing at the college level since he began playing baseball as a young kid.

“When I figured out I was going to have the chance, it was a blessing to get to know I could do what I always wanted,” he said.

A.C. Reyes

Reyes will be the only member of Fernley’s 2017 senior class who will continue to play football in college, at Montana Western.

Reyes, who played running back and linebacker for Fernley, expects to play strong safety for the Bulldogs.

“I take a lot of pride being only one of my class of seniors to play football at the college level,” Reyes said.

Reyes said he was sold on Montana Western after taking a four-day visit to the campus this spring.

“It’s been my goal forever,” he said. “I’ll be first one playing from my family, so I’m pretty honored.”

Reyes said he likes that Montana Western is the only public university in the nation with a block schedule. He plans to major in environmental sciences, and use his degree to become a firefighter.

“This means a lot,” Reyes said. “I’ve had great support from family and friends, and my coaches have been awesome.”

Grace DeLeon

DeLeon will become the latest Fernley graduate to compete at the NCAA Division I level, running track and cross country at St. Mary’s.

DeLeon credits her training over the last year with helping her drop her times on the track and the course, to the point that she will be able to run in college.

She began talking with coaches from St. Mary’s last summer, took an official visit and kept the school in mind throughout her senior year.

In March, she took an official visit where she got to run with the team, went to class and saw what life is like for a student-athlete.

“I’m really happy,” DeLeon said. “Not a lot of people get to play Division I, so it’s a big accomplishment obviously, to get to do that.”

DeLeon said she is excited to run the longer distances that college track offers, and looks forward to competing in the 5K and 10k distances. She’s also excited to check out some of the other events in college track, like the steeplechase.

DeLeon plans to major in business administration, then go to law school and become civil rights attorney.

Photos by Robert Perea, The Fernley Reporter