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SPORTS & ARTS
Friday
december 19, 2008
B Mt. Carmel SuN
Sundevils sign National Letters of Intent
MC athletes commit to schools, receive scholarships Maggie Doremus Oregon State erica ByerLey Staff Writer
Photo Courtesy of Bill Doremus
For senior Maggie Doremus, the decision to attend Oregon State was relatively easy. “The school is like a really big family,” she said. Even though Doremus had offers from Tennessee, North Carolina, and Florida, she says she still would have chosen Oregon State without the full ride she received to play softball there next year. The recruiting process for her began very early. “They started recruiting me freshman year because that’s when they first saw me play,” she said. “The whole process is time-consuming because you have to email the coaches,” she said. “It’s up to you to ask if they’re coming [to your games] because otherwise they won’t come.” Doremus committed fairly early, making the
college admissions process easier for both her and the coaches. “I kind of jumped to Oregon State quickly,” she said. “Schools put a lot of pressure on you. The money might not have been there if I waited longer.” Coaches don’t know who is going to commit to their school and who isn’t, so they want people to let them know early. “The school wants to know your answer so they can recruit other people if they need to,” Doremus said. She is excited about the change in scenery she will get in moving from southern California to a place where it rains year-round as well as the tight sense of community the campus offers. “The community is all about Oregon State,” she said. “It’s a big school but a small community.” Oregon State also has a top-notch indoor training center. It is the size of several football fields and is
high enough to hit a homerun in. “Because it rains so much you have to have a really good indoor facility,” Doremus said. Doremus looks forword to meeting new people and building new bonds with her classmates. “The football team is pretty close with the softball team,” Doremus said. “Sometimes they will trade weight times with us.” Her favorite sports memories at MC are winning CIF for softball and for basketball. However. she will not be playing basketball at Oregon next year. “I’m going to miss it, but I know after college I’d totally join an intramural league or an old woman basketball league.” Before then, Doremus will play or train for softball year-round with her teammates. She is hoping for more winning seasons in her future. “My year is supposed to have a lot of talent coming in,” Doremus said.
Vanessa Currie Sonoma State Katelyn Cutts News Editor She walked on the campus and knew right away that it was the school for her. For senior Vanessa Currie, Sonoma State University would become her home for the next four years to play a sport she loves. “The area is so beautiful,” she said. “The campus was equally beautiful.” Currie had multiple choices from different schools. “I was set on USD; it was my first choice,” she said. “When I realized I could not afford the
tuition each year, I started to look at Sonoma.” She knew that she wanted to stay in California so Southern Utah was immediately off the list as well. Sonoma State became the obvious choice for her because of the campus and its team. “I chose Sonoma because of the softball team,” she said. “The coach and the girls were really nice.” Although Currie plays third base for MC, she is an outfielder on her travel team and will be playing that in college. For Currie, she also knew that there was something else about Sonoma. “I would have gone there sports or no sports,” she said. “I fit in there. It has school spirit, but it is
more about the academics than sports.” Currie has played softball since she was fiveyears-old and has really enjoyed the experiences that MC has given her. “My favorite experience from MC would have to be the first year we won CIF,” she said. “It was the first time the team went 10-0 during league and the first time the team won CIF. We were the first to put a CIF banner up for softball.” Currie is excited to be playing softball for Sonoma and loves the campus. Although softball was important to her decision, becoming a Seawolf was more about the school’s academics and overall appeal as a gorgeous school.
Photo Courtesy of Vanessa Currie
Photo Courtesy of Vanessa Currie
Danielle Spence Rice University Melissa Roadman Editor-in- Chief
Photo Courtesy of Danielle Spence
The i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed. It’s official. Senior Danielle Spence signed her official National Letter of Intent to attend Rice University on a partial swim scholarship next year. Since freshman year, Spence has been receiving recruiting letters and questionnaires from a variety of colleges. Spence faced an additional challenge as she broke her arm at the beginning of swim season last year. “I missed my most important meet of the season, so I didn’t have a chance to improve my times for that year,” she said. “So, some of the faster schools I was looking at weren’t as interested as they may have been. I think that
it happened for a reason and I ended up at the right place.” This past summer, coaches began contacting her, and Spence embarked on five recruiting trips during the fall to University of Denver, UC Santa Barbara, Rice University, Columbia University, and Notre Dame. “On the recruit trips, you get to know the team and coaches and see if you would like going there and being a part of that team,” Spence said. “The coaches get to know you and see if they want to offer you an official spot on their team and how much scholarship they want to give you.” After these five trips, Spence decided Rice was the best fit for her.
“Rice has a good combination of academics and athletics,” she said. “I fit in perfectly with both programs. Also, I like the small size and I have family nearby.” Spence looks forward to the experiences she will have at Rice. “I think Rice’s swimming program will definitely help me improve my swimming,” Spence said. “However, I am not planning on swimming after college.” A unique feature of Rice is their residential system. Spence likened it to Harry Potter. “I really like their residential college system,” she said. “There are nine “colleges” that freshmen are randomly assigned to. This is where you live for the next four years. The colleges have a lot of traditions and spirit!”
Jennifer Helssen University of California, Berkeley Melissa Roadman Editor-in- Chief It has been one year since senior Jennifer Helssen began crewing, but she has signed with UC Berkeley for a partial scholarship to crew in college. Helssen received offers from UC Berkeley, University of Washington, Boston College and USC. Helssen went on trips in order to help in the decision process. “In rowing you go on these visit and you visit the school to see if you like it or not,” Helssen said. “You talk to the coaches. I just narrowed it down from there.” She also had the opportunity to meet with the team. After her trips, the decision became clear to her for specific reasons.
“They have one of the best crew teams in the nation,” she said. “[Also,] the academics are really good.” The coach and team contribute to Berkeley’s crew success. “The coaches and the girls just really want to be there and give it there all to make it happen,” Helssen said. The team dynamics attracted her to Berkeley. “I liked how they actually really wanted to be there,” she said.“I feel like at school some people really don’t want to be here and they don’t try and they hold the people who want to be here back. I feel like everybody there wanted to be there and there was a lot of school spirit.” Helssen looks forward to going to college and
the experiences that await her. “I’m looking forward to getting away from everything and starting new,” she said. “I think it’ll be really fun.” One year ago, one of Helssen’s friends received a scholarship to do crew in college and told her to get involved in the unique sport. “My friend got recruited,” she said. “She told me to start because it’s fun. She began crewing shortly after at the San Diego Rowing Club in Mission Bay. Helssen feels that her involvement in crew has made a positive impact on her life. “It’s taught me a lot about life. It gives me a structure and there are a lot of cool people doing Photo Courtesy of Jennifer Helssen it,” she said. Jennifer Helssen (12), right, rows in the San Diego Rowing Club.
These are not the only athletes who have officially signed to colleges for athletics. If you have signed, and were not mentioned, please contact us and you will be acknowledged.
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JV girls water polo
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Staff writer Nicole Bustamante provides a first-hand account of her life as a taxi player between JV and varsity.
Boys win against Carlsbad and lose to San Pasqual, but still play on despite a few injured players. The team plays today at 3:30.
Remember the fall sports by browsing through galleries of each of the sports.