By Justin Hsieh, Staff Writer
At noon on Wednesday, seven senior girls completed their commitment to college athletics in the National Letter of Intent Signing Day ceremony that took place in the FVHS gym.
“It’s a nice day for Fountain Valley, and girl power takes the day,” said Athletic Director Roger Holmes.
After a short ceremony in which each athlete was honored by their school or club coach, the seniors joined athletes across the country in signing their National Letters of Intent to officially confirm their future participation in programs at National Collegiate Athletic Association colleges and universities.
Cross country and track and field coach Brian Bivens first recognized Isabella Guerra and Sara Feitz, respectively bound for Benedictine College and Concordia University.
“[Guerra and Feitz] both ran at the state championships on our cross country team; both are in the top ten basically [of] all time in what they do. [They are] an amazing group, three time Sunset League champions. I couldn’t be more proud of them, and I look forward to watching them do well in the future and college,” said Bivens.
Girls’ soccer coach Scott Goldman spoke for Chantelle Sanchez and Samantha Valdez, signing for University of California, Irvine and Vanguard University.
“Since [Sanchez and Valdez] both stepped in to varsity as freshmen, they’ve been impactful players and contributors since day one. I think Chantelle’s probably the most skilled soccer player I’ve ever coached. Sam Valdez is probably the hardest working player… They’ve raised the level of their teammates and players around them and they’re really shining examples of what it’s about to be a Baron athlete,” said Goldman.
For Nicole Weber, headed to crew at University of California, Berkeley, club rowing coach Kristine Sanders shared some words.
“Nicole’s got a pretty special story, she actually just celebrated her one year anniversary in rowing. Prior to that she was a professional ballerina so when she showed up to our boathouse one year ago, I wanted to make sure she knew what she was getting herself into. Nicole’s a pretty special athlete… she takes each and every challenge that we throw at her with grace and drive like I’ve never seen in any other athlete before, so Berkeley’s really lucky to have her,” said Sanders.
Swimming coach Christine Locke spoke about Hannah Farrow, who signed on to swim at the University of Arizona.
“It’s been a privilege coaching and working with Hannah Farrow; she’s incredibly talented, motivated, and just a fun swimmer to be around. [She brings] such an awesome energy to the pool deck, and we love that, and [her] drive is just so wonderful, and it shows when [she] continually [beats her] own school records and so we’re so proud of [her],” said Locke.
The final speaker was softball coach Kami Bigler, who honored Sterling College sign-on Samantha Araiza.
“Sam is an amazing kid, she is a four-year letterman [in] varsity softball. Her stature probably doesn’t say much about her in the softball field, but she is larger than life out there. She’s our leadoff hitter. She’s been awesome, I love having her. She’s an all-around amazing kid, she’s going to do awesome.”
