Jordan Escobar-Goral believed after the WIAA state track and field meet last year that a collegiate career might be possible.
The Green Bay Preble senior was part of a talented 3,200-meter relay team that finished runner-up in Division 1, just 0.42 seconds behind state champion Mequon Homestead.
Escobar-Goral posted a 1-minute, 53-second split in the event that day.
“That’s where it really started for me, I started taking it a lot more seriously,” he said.
Whatever he did, it worked.
Escobar-Goral signed a letter of intent during spring signing day May 6 to compete at NCAA Division I University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
UWM started to speak with Escobar-Goral in the winter, and while a few other schools were interested, nobody provided the opportunity the Panthers did.
When the team extended him an offer last month, it only took about a week to accept even without taking an official visit to the campus.
“It obviously means a whole lot to me,” said Escobar-Goral, who also is a talented forward in soccer and was a second-team all-conference pick in the Fox River Classic as a senior in 2025. “Especially just with how much help financially I am getting from this and getting to do what I love, running track. It just means the world to me.”
His recruitment wasn’t overwhelming from a time standpoint, but it was stressful.
There were days when he wasn’t sure which coach would make an offer or if one would even be presented.
That feeling lingered until a few weeks ago when UWM came calling.
Escobar-Goral can now focus on the final month of his prep career.
Along with his work in relays, he competes in the 400- and 800-meter dashes.
Escobar-Goral set Preble’s indoor record in the 400 with a time of 51.33 in March and is coming off a junior campaign in which he won a sectional championship in the 800.
That 800 memory still stings a bit.
He was one of 25 runners in the event at state last season, but only 24 of them placed.
Escobar-Goral was disqualified because of a false start. He saw a runner to his left slightly flinch, causing him to completely flinch.
The rest was unfortunate history.
“Immediately after, I broke down,” Escobar-Goral said. “I didn’t really want to believe that it happened like that. But right when I walked off the track and got done watching the race from the infield, I just put it in my head like, tomorrow, I have to use this as motivation. Just use it for motivation in the 4×800.”
Nobody will ever know, but Escobar-Goral believes he could have earned a podium finish.
He still has an opportunity for a better ending if he can qualify for state again.
With his college future solidified, it would be the perfect way to go out.
“I’m just taking it one step at a time, like I did last year,” Escobar-Goral said. “Not worrying about times as much, just worrying about competing and really just waiting for that time where I can drop a time at state and get redemption from last year.”
Escobar-Goral was one of several local athletes who will compete at the DI, DII or junior college level and signed letters of intent this week.
More from Green Bay Preble
Preble goaltender Landin Gauthier will play soccer at Bryant & Stratton, a National Junior College Athletic Association program in Wauwatosa.
Gauthier helped lead the Hornets to a D1 state runner-up finish in 2024, including making six saves in a 2-1 double overtime upset against No. 1 seed Milwaukee Marquette in a semifinal.
“Landin was a true goalkeeper,” Preble coach Chris Becker said. “He had no fear in stopping any ball that came his way. He is a hard worker and is a good teammate.”
Ashwaubenon
Moxon Kernz will play baseball at Western Technical College, an NJCAA school in La Crosse.
The infielder is hitting .293 with nine RBI, 10 runs scored and three stolen bases this season.
Kernz will join a Cavaliers team that featured another local product this season in Aiden Hoffmann, a 2024 Preble graduate.
Bay Port
Griffin Schilz will compete in swimming at Valparaiso University, a DI school in Indiana. The senior competed in four events at the D1 state meet in February.
He finished fifth in the 500-yard freestyle and 10th in the 200 free. Schilz was part of a 400 freestyle relay team that finished sixth and a 200 free relay team that placed 12th.
Madison Paulsen, the team captain of the cheer team and a four-year varsity member for the Pirates, will join the University of Minnesota.
Minnesota is credited with inventing organized cheerleading. It started during a football game in November 1898 after student Johnny Campbell came out of the stands and led a chant.
“I am so grateful to my friends and family for their constant support, and to my coaches and teammates for pushing me to become the best version of myself,” Paulsen wrote after committing to the Gophers. “Thank you to the Minnesota coaching staff for giving me this incredible opportunity to be part of such an amazing program.”
Green Bay Notre Dame
Destiny Webster will play basketball at Grand Valley State (Michigan), which went 36-1 this season and won the DII national championship for the second straight year.
The 5-foot-8 guard was one of the area’s best players the past two seasons.
She was a first-team all-conference selection in the FRCC in 2025-26 after helping lead the Tritons to the D1 state tournament for the first time after their previous trips came in D2.
Webster averaged 11.3 points, 4.6 assists, 3.5 rebounds, 2.3 steals and 1.3 blocks while shooting 52.7%.
She will join Notre Dame teammate Kaia Waldrop at GVS.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay-area high school athletes ink college plans on signing day
