Linfield student athletes sign their National Letters of Intent

JP Raineri Sports Editor

TEMECULA – Eleven senior student athletes from Linfield Christian School recently took part in a National Letter of Intent signing day ceremony, where they were recognized for committing to play sports and further their education at the next level.

Student athletes from the Class of 2023 at Linfield Christian School sign their paperwork at a recent National Letter of Intent signing day ceremony. Valley News/Courtesy photo

National Signing Day for many sports, especially in Division I, has become a celebrated event and is held so a high school senior can sign a binding national letter of intent with an NCAA, NCCAA or NAIA college, committing in writing to attend that school in exchange for a commitment from the school to receive financial aid and scholarships.

Here is a look at the colleges and universities to which the following local senior student athletes from Linfield Christian will be reportedly taking their talents.

- Rachel Hollingsworth, Cheer, Point Loma Nazarene (San Diego, CA)

- Maddy Anderson, Cheer, Benedictine College (Atchison, KS)

- Jonathan Aguilera, Football, Concordia-Ann Arbor (Ann Arbor, MI)

- Eryn Warren, Soccer, Ottawa University (Surprise, AZ)

- Kendall Schmottlach, Basketball, Ottawa University (Surprise, AZ)

- Mike McNair, Basketball, Boston University (Boston, MA)

- Luke Drabek, Track & Field, Dordt University (Sioux Center, IA)

Bobcat girls win Bill Porter track invite, Hamilton boys second

Joe Naiman Writer

Hamilton High School’s track and field teams traveled to Julian High School for the April 28 Bill Porter Track and Field Invitational meet which ended with the Bobcat girls placing first and the Hamilton boys taking second.

The Hamilton girls earned 57 position points at the meet named for the long-time Julian High School coach. Mountain Empire, which is in Pine Valley, had the second-place girls’ score of 48 points. San Pasqual Academy of Escondido won the boys’ portion of the meet with 76 points, Hamilton accumulated 69 points, and the Mountain Empire boys were third with 68 points.

A high school track and field meet consists of 16 boys’ events and 16 girls’ events. Hamilton won three of the girls’ events with junior Gwen Vanzile taking first place in both the shot put and the long jump while freshman Sky Vollen won the high jump. All three of the

Hamilton boys’ wins were in running events. Freshman Jose Barajas and sophomore Jesus Rodriguez gave the Bobcats first and second in the 3,200-meter race, freshman Hunter Edmisten won the 400-meter race, and freshman Timothy Wisda had the fastest 300-meter hurdles time.

Vanzile threw the shot put 27 feet, 3-1/2 inches. The second place throw of 26 feet, 8-1/2 inches was from West Shores (Salton City) junior Antasia Garth. Hamilton freshman Josette Heridia threw the shot put 21 feet even for fifth place while senior Nuria Lopez had a throw of 17 feet, 5-1/2 inches for seventh.

The best long jump for Vanzile was with a distance of 15 feet, 6-3/4 inches. A distance of 14 feet, 5-1/4 inches gave Mountain Empire sophomore Shayden Kaiser second place.

Vollen cleared 3’10” in the high jump and was the only girl at the meet to have an initial distance.

Hamilton senior Stephanie Martinez was second in three girls’ events. Mountain Empire freshman Ohah Johnson won the 800-meter race in 2:57.74. Martinez had a time of 3:11.61. Julian sophomore Rylee Bennin was third at 3:22.88. Hamilton senior Jay Rodriguez finished fourth with a time of 3:27.19. Victory Christian Academy (Chula Vista) freshman Danilyn Henson won the 1,600-meter race with a time of 7:01.88 while Martinez completed her metric mile in 7:11.36 and Rodriguez finished third at 7:37.99. Kaiser had a triple jump of 29 feet, 9-1/2 inches while Martinez had a distance of 29 feet, 5 inches; Vollen had a triple jump of 24 feet, 0 inches for fifth place. Vanzile took third in the discus throw with a distance of 61 feet, 3 inches. Heridia had the fifth-place throw of 46 feet, 8 inches. Vollen landed a discus 46 feet, 1 inch past the throwing circle for sixth.

An athlete is allowed to enter up to four events at a meet. Vanzile also competed in the 100-meter dash, where her time of 14.31 seconds placed fifth. Hamilton was also fifth in the girls 4x100 relay in which Rodriguez, freshman Gwyneth Thompson, Vollen and Martinez had a time of 1:10.25.

Barajas won the boys 3,200-meter race in 12:41.17 while Rodriguez had a time of 13:30.05. Both boys also competed in the 1,600-meter event with Barajas achieving the fourth-place time of 5:50.46 and Rodriguez becoming the fifth finisher 6:01.13 after the race began.

Edmisten needed 58.86 seconds to win the boys 400-meter race.

Mountain Empire junior Jaamarry Hasan was second and finished in 1:01.84. Hamilton junior Anthony Bilecky completed his lap in 1:05.51 for fifth place. Wisda had a 300-meter hurdles time of 49.97 seconds. The secondplace finisher, San Pasqual Academy junior Abdual Gawusu, had a time of 50.01 seconds.

San Pasqual Academy junior Christian Spidle won the boys 110-meter hurdles race in 19.95 seconds. Wisda was second at 21.86 seconds.

- Matthew Rezkalah, Baseball, Loyola Marymount University (Los Angeles, CA)

- Chris Allen, Baseball, Dordt University (Sioux Center, IA)

- Andrew Eaves, Lacrosse, University of Montana (Missoula, MT)

- Vanessa Perez, Softball, Loyola Marymount University (Los Angeles, CA)

If you know of a student athlete that is a senior, playing at the next level, and did not get recognized by the Valley News Sports Department, send more information to sports@ reedermedia.com. Good luck to the entire graduating class of 2023!

JP Raineri can be reached by email at sports@reedermedia.com

Victory Christian Academy had the winning time of 4:15.26 in the boys 4x400 relay. Edmisten, Wisda, Bilecky and senior Dylan Ortego finished second and had a 4:19.28 performance. Bilecky, Wisda, Ortego and Edmisten were third in the boys 4x100 relay they completed in 54.45 seconds.

Mountain Empire junior David Enriquez won the boys triple jump with a distance of 28 feet, 5 inches. Bilecky had the second-place distance of 26 feet, 6 ½-inches. A height of 5’6” gave San Pasqual Academy junior Michael Carranza the boys high jump victory. Hamilton senior Alex Nahsohn had the second-place height of 5’2”. Hamilton junior Josh Torres threw the shot put 33 feet, 7 inches for third place among boys. Torres was sixth in the boys discus throw with a distance of 72 feet, 8 inches while Nahsohn was seventh with a throw of 67 feet, 8 inches.

Joe Naiman can be reached by email at jnaiman@reedermedia. com

Valley’s Travis McSparran missed by two shots.

“As I walked around and looked at the hole locations, I’m honestly surprised that the number to advance wasn’t lower because every hole was in a favorable position for scoring,” coach Jeff Sampson said. “It was a great day for our valley, and I think we made a statement that the best golfers are in Temecula and Murrieta.”

Eight total Valley News area golfers advanced to the next round of individual qualifying on May 18 in Oxnard at River Ridge Golf Course.

20-foot downhill eagle putt to tie the lead. It narrowly missed but Abuan made the comebacker for birdie to tie for runner-up honors.

With a coach from Cal State San Bernardino looking on, Frye shot an impressive round of 68 recording five birdies and one lone bogey on the par five 9th hole. He responded to the adversity by making back-toback birdies on his final two holes to earn a share of second place.

Ambassador League champion Linfield Christian had both of their golfers in Daniel Guerra and Luke Bohmer advance to the next round, which according to a social media post is the first time in program history that occurred. Bohmer’s round of one under par 71 was highlighted by three birdies in a four-hole span at seven, nine and ten. Guerra shot a two over par round of 74 that was highlighted by a birdie at the 211-yard par three sixteenth hole. It continues a banner year for coach Mark Moore’s team who get their shot at competing this week in the CIF-SS Division 5 tournament.

The score to advance was 76 (+4) and claiming the final two spots were Temescal Canyon’s Nixon Lauritzen (Ivy League Champion and a CIF-State regional finalist last year) and King’s Bear Huff (Big VIII Champion). They earned their spots by tiebreaker (lowest two back nine scores) as nine players tied on that total score. Great Oak’s Koa Baur was one of those who shot a 76 but lost on the tiebreaker. Alex Ni of St. Jeanne missed the playoff by a shot and Murrieta

With the Wolfpack finishing as a second-place team in Southwestern League play there was a nervous wait for Great Oak as they found out mid-afternoon their at-large petition into the CIF-SS Division 1 tournament was accepted. “It was tough to wait for that list to come out,” coach Sampson said. “I know the guys feel bad about not being able to close out either match against MV, but they redeemed themselves in the individual event and I feel we’ll make our mark in the team tournament.”

It was a tough day for Southwestern League team champion Murrieta Valley who only advanced one player onto the next round of individual play through this qualifier in Jayden Alden, who shot a -1 round of 71.

The CIF-SS Division 1 team championship took place at Temecula’s Cross Creek Golf Club earlier this week (Monday, May 15), prior to this article going to print. Updates will be made online. Derryl Trujillo can be reached at socaltrekkie@gmail.com