Three Mars Area High School seniors signed letters of intent to continue their sports careers at the college level:

Michael Carmody signed a letter of intent to join the Fighting Irish Football Team at the University of Notre Dame (Notre Dame, Ind.), where he plans to major in engineering.

Carmody is a three-year member of Mars Area High School Varsity Football Team, which advanced to the first round of the 2019 WPIAL Class 5A Boys Football Championship. The Fightin’ Planets ended the 2019 regular season with an overall record of 6-4 and 4-3 in Section 3-5A of the Northern Conference.

The No. 2 overall ranked player in Pennsylvania and the No. 13 offensive tackle, Carmody was recruited by more than 40 Division 1 schools. He was named to the 2019 Western Pennsylvania Big 5/6 Athletic Conference Section 3-5A Football All-Conference First Team Offense and to the Pennsylvania Football Writers 2018 Class 5A All-State First Team.

In addition, Carmody was named a 2020 All-American high school football player and will play in 20th anniversary All-American Bowl East vs. West matchup at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 4, at the Alamodome (San Antonio, Texas).

At Mars Area High School, Carmody is a member of Chess Club and National Honor Society. In the community, he serves as youth mentor.

Zachary Leachman signed a letter of intent to join the Seminoles Cross Country and Track & Field Teams at Florida State University (Tallahassee, Fla.), where he plans to major in biomedical engineering.

Leachman is a four-year member of Mars Area High School Boys Varsity Cross Country, Track & Field and Swimming & Diving teams.

This season, he took 19th place in the 2019 PIAA Class 3A Cross Country Championship and third place at the 2019 WPIAL Class 3A Cross Country Championship. In 2019, Leachman earned fourth place in the 3,200-Meter Run at both the PIAA and WPIAL Class 3A Varsity Track & Field Championships.

Along with his fellow members of the 400-Yard Freestyle Relay Team, he competed in the preliminary round of the event as in the 2019 PIAA Class 3A Varsity Swimming & Diving Championships. The relay team took sixth place in the 400-Yard Freestyle Relay and 10th place in the 200-Yard Freestyle Relay at the 2019 WPIAL Class 3A Varsity Swimming & Diving Championships, where Leachman also took 10th place in the 200-Yard Freestyle and 14th place in the 500-Yard Freestyle.

Leachman took 26th place at the 2019 Foot Locker Northeast Regional Cross Country Championship. He also competed as a member of the USA Triathlon (USAT) Team USA” at the 2019 Monterrey CAMTRI Triathlon Championships in Mexico and in the 2018 Salinas CAMTRI Triathlon American Youth Olympic Games Qualifier in Equador.

At Mars Area High School, Leachman is a member of Enrichment Club, National Honor Society and the school’s Science Bowl Team.

Nick Spotti signed a letter of intent to join the Yellowjackets Lacrosse Team at Baldwin Wallace University (Berea, Ohio), where he plans to major in business.

Spotti is a four-year member of Mars Area High School Boys Varsity Lacrosse Team, which advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2019 PIAA Class 2A Boys Varsity Lacrosse Championship, after winning its fourth consecutive WPIAL title. The Fightin’ Planets ended the regular season with an overall record of 15-3 and 8-0 in section play, earning the 2019 Section 1-2A title.

At Mars Area High School, Spotti is a member of German Club and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes as well as a three-year member of the Varsity Football Team. In the community, he volunteers as bell ringer for the Salvation Army.

For more information, call (724) 625-9380.