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Fourteen San Ramon Valley High seniors officially turned in their green and gold on Wednesday afternoon for new school colors. Students participating in various collegiate sports were honored at a lunchtime ceremony as part of a national signing day.
One of the larger groups of scholarship receiving athletes, students donned polos, sweatshirts and baseball caps with their university’s logo and signed “mock” letters of intent before a cheering group of peers and parents. Athletic Director John Raynor presided over the ceremony and congratulated students for their “tremendous accomplishment.”
“It’s not too often that we can see people reach excellence, but as we look at this table of young men and women we can say they have achieved excellence in their young careers,” Raynor said.
Several honorees expressed gratitude toward their families and friends, many of whom gave hugs and high fives as names were called. Allison Brown, who will attend Stanford for swimming and engineering, said it felt particularly nice to be recognized.
“I feel like usually athletic scholarships don’t get recognized as much. It was a really nice opportunity for my peers to recognize everyone that’s worked so hard,” Allison said.
The signing day ceremony made the prospect of college seem more immediate. For Lauren Neilsen, who donned a black and red San Diego State sweatshirt, signing a letter of intent is both relieving and slightly nerve-wracking.
“It’s getting real because it was all talk before and now it’s real and we’re signing,” she said. “I love the school, I love the sport and having everyone here to support me is really nice,” she said.
Although there is a second signing day on Feb. 1 for those who will play football, basketball and cross country, Raynor said there was an unusually large number of early signers on Wednesday.
“This rates as one of the top classes in terms of scholarships,” he said, adding that all the scholarship recipients are also top students. “They are motivated, ambitious and very goal oriented. The class of 2012 have made a new statement of what excellence is based on the breadth of universities they will be attending.”
Raynor attributes the large scholarship class to parental involvement and involvement in sports from an early age. Many of the students have played on club teams and traveling teams outside of school, he said.
Below is a list of the early signing athletes:
* Will Ballowe, baseball at University of Washington
* Cody Blickensderfer, golf at San Jose State University
* Allison Brown, swim at Stanford University
* Marissa Brown, swim at UC Davis
* Max Dutto, baseball at UC Berkeley
* Joseph Grosh, volleyball at Brigham Young University
* Shannon Herman, swim at San Diego State University
* Marissa Neel, swim at University of Texas
* Lauren Nielsen, crew at San Diego State University
* Stephanie Stamates, gymnastics at UC Davis
* Michael Tagliaferri, lacrosse at University of North Carolina
* Anthony Villa, baseball at St. Mary’s University
* Jordan Weiss, lacrosse at Penn State
* Patrick Worstell, lacrosse at Syracuse University
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