February has started out great so far as multiple of Cypress’ athletes have officially signed their letter of intent for their respective colleges. On the 7th of February, 2024, volleyball player Trace Oswald, golfer Katherine Gerbing, baseball player Nick Montgomery, softball player Madeline Granados, basketball player Isabella Caceres, softball player Brianna Holguin, baseball player Antonio Lujan, diver Isabella Chen, softball player Breana Townsend, and golfer Ryan Slevcove attended the annual athletic signing ceremony in the gym and got to celebrate their accomplishments with their overjoyed parents and dear friends.
The ceremony started with words of encouragement given by Asst. Principal Joseph Boardwine and each student was introduced to the audience by athletic directors Mark Slevcove and Sean Pfeiffer, who handed out the letter of intent to each athlete. The event was filled with lots of joy and excitement as parents took pictures of their athletes as they signed.
This was a quite bittersweet day for both parents and athletes since the athletes will be transitioning into the next chapter of their lives. Although many students would be nervous to move away from home, these athletes are confident that they will do great things while playing the sport they love. Softball player Breana Townsend will be attending BYU. In college, she plans to “beat out [her] position” regardless of obstacles.
Two other softball players, Madeline Granados and Brianna Holguin, have also decided to continue their athletic careers. Granados will be attending Biola University and Holguin will join Fairleigh Dickinson University. These girls are examples on and off the field and will do great as they move to college. Granados advises young players to “Be you, don’t let anybody else change who you are and just go out there and do it for yourself first.”
Baseball stars, Antonio Lujan and Nick Montgomery will also take their talents to their respective universities. Montgomery will attend Arizona State University while Lujan committed to Azusa Pacific University. To keep their positive attitude these athletes strive to maintain the unity in their team. “When we are on that field we’re going to war together and we are trying to win,” Lujan says. Montgomery is a hard worker who “loves to compete, no matter what [he’s] doing” which pushes him to be a better player and teammate.
Trace Oswald has been playing volleyball for six years. His coaches and teammates motivate him every day, and keep each other accountable. His advice for young players is “stay consistent with it and practice, love the sport, and you will get there one day.” Oswald earned a scholarship to The Master’s University and will major in international business. He’s a little worried about how his body will adapt to longer practices and how to keep up with the stress. His goal for freshman year is to see himself play at the highest level he can play at.
Golfers Ryan Slevcove and Katherine Gerbing will be attending Iona University and UCI respectively to continue their golf careers. Diver Isabella Chen will be attending Northwestern University and Isabella Caceres will be attending Hiram College to continue her basketball career.
Cypress is incredibly proud of all of these athletes and excited to see what the future holds for them.
