The last two years have seen a meteoric rise for Iowa running back Ronald Young. He went from not playing as a sophomore to leading Iowa to the semifinals for the first time in program history last fall.

On Wednesday, he took the next step, signing a National Letter of Intent to play for Prairie View A&M.

“It feels good,” Young said. “It is really unbelievable.”

Prairie View is a Division I Football Championship Subdivision program located 45 minutes northwest of Houston. The Panthers play in the Southwestern Athletic Conference and went 6-5 last season, finishing second in the West Division.

“I like the facilities, atmosphere and culture,” Young said of the school. “Everything is different there — the culture, the coaches, the staff, everybody. I bring a lot to the table. It just depends on where they put me.”

In two seasons as the Yellow Jackets’ starting running back, Young ran for 2,968 yards and 39 touchdowns, while leading Iowa to a 21-4 record. Iowa went 11-2 last fall, earned the No. 1 seed in Division II non-select and reached the state semifinals.

“That right there, everybody wanted it bad, so we made a run for it,” Young said. “It has been amazing. I can’t explain it. I liked being around my teammates. We like to laugh and go out to places. We do a lot of stuff together.”

As a senior, Young ran for 1,870 yards and accounted for 24 touchdowns while averaging 7.1 yards per carry.

Track

St. Louis Catholic’s Mason Abshire, a two-time state champion pole vaulter, signed with the Louisiana-Lafayette track program.

Abshire won the 2022 indoor (Division II) and outdoor (Class 3A) state pole vault titles and recently cleared a personal best 15 feet, 61/2 inches at the LSU High School Qualifier indoor meet.

His best outdoors jump is 15-3.

A list of Southwest Louisiana high school athletes who intend to continue playing at the college level.

Football

NCAA Division I

Ronald Young, Iowa, Prairie View A&M

Walk-ons

Ronnie Crosby, DeRidder, Texas A&M

Grant Evans, St. Louis Catholic, McNeese State

Dennis Gardere, Sam Houston, McNeese State

Bryant Merriwether, Rosepine, Louisiana-Lafayette

NCAA Division II

Bryant Hammond, DeRidder, Henderson State

NCAA Division III

Donovan Winey, Iowa, Centenary

National Junior College

Athletic Association

Courtlande Collins, Lake Charles College Prep, Highland Community (Kan.) College

Kevon Freeman, Lake Charles College Prep, Highland Community (Kan.) College

Jamorian Jackson, Sam Houston, Blinn (Texas) College

NAIA

Alex Archield, DeRidder, Louisiana Christian

Brian Doga, Sam Houston, Missouri Valley

Brandon Jupiter, Westlake, Louisiana Christian

Jason Legre, Barbe, Louisiana Christian

Josh Lemonier, Sam Houston, Missouri Valley

Trenton Miller, Sam Houston, Missouri Valley

Kent Zaunbrecher, Grand Lake, Louisiana Christian

Softball

NJCAA

Cyndi Reed, Iowa, LSU-Eunice

Track and Field

NCAA Division I

Mason Abshire, St. Louis, Lousiana-Lafayette