At least three area high schools students got the jump on their classmates and signed National Letters of Intent before the early signing period closed last week.

Charlie Retter, a defending NCHSAA state champion from East Chapel Hill, committed to dive for the aquatics program at N.C. State University.

Casey Ward of Cedar Ridge High School signed to play golf for High Point University and classmate Tayor Thompson agreed to play basketball next year for Maryland-Eastern Shore.

At Chapel Hill High School, volleyball MVP Katelyn Layden signed for Campbell University on a full scholarship. "Katelyn is an outstanding young lady and a tremendous leader," coach Sherry Norris said.

Also from CHHS, Liza Schimmelfing committed to play volleyball at Queens College in Charlotte with an academic schlarship.

Retter was the only Wildcat to sign early this year, but the school opted to have a small ceremony Tuesday in his honor instead of waiting until the spring, when East often has more members of it senior class committed to college programs.

"This is tremendously exciting," East Chapel Hill athletics director Ray Hartsfield said. "We could have waited until the spring, but we felt that this is important.

"Charlie is a great kid. He's a young kid who's already won one state title and is defending it this year, going on to compete in the ACC. That's really noteworthy."

Retter's parents, Martha and Bruce Retter, brought cookies with topped with the words "N.C. State" as frosting. Some students and teachers attended the informal ceremony.

Retter said he chose N.C. State mostly because the Wolfpack's divers were coached by Jenny Keim Johansen, who coached him in his formative years as a member of the Blue Devil Diving Club.

"I dove with her since I was 10 years old, each day, all the way through grade school, and I thought it would be great to end the last four years of my career with her," Retter said.

When Retter first attended East Chapel Hill, Nick McCrory (Duke), Nick Klein (Fla. State) and Ryland Jones (North Carolina) all were upperclassmen on the Wildcat aquatics team.

"We were at the cusp of moving up to 4-A, and I knew Nick McCrory and Nick Klein and Ryland were all leaving after that year. That's a big loss; those points helped East win state championships," Hartsfield recalled. Then-principal Dave Thaden tried to reassure him. "Dave said 'Don't worry; we're going to be okay. ... We've got a young ninth-grader who'se probably the best young diver in the region.' I asked his name and he said, "Watch Charlie Retter. He's going to be something.""

Earlier Tuesday morning at Cedar Ridge, Ward and Thompson signed together in the school's gym as friends and family looked on.

"I'm really proud of them and how they've represented Cedar Ridge High School for the past four years, and I'm proud of what they're going to do at the next level," athletics director Andy Simmons said. "We're happy to have a lot of their teammates and friends here to see it. It shows them a goal to work toward."

Thompson, a forward at Cedar Ridge, chose Maryland-Eastern Shore for the academics.

"It's got a good atmosphere," she said. "I felt like the team was oriented to goals of academics first and playing sports after that. I liked everyone there, and it felt like the right fit for me."

Ward, who competes for Cedar Ridge in both the girls' and boys' seasons, has been winning junior tournaments since she was in elementary school. She said she loved High Point University from the first moment she stepped onto the campus as a high school sophomore.

"Whenever I would visit another campus, I was always comparing it in my mind to High Point," she said. "I feel like I should move in next weekend, but it's going to be a while. I'm going to enjoy the rest of my senior year."