The coronavirus pandemic brought the sport to a halt in California high school, but it didn’t stop top inland athletes from putting pen to paper for the early signing days period.
Of course, the celebrations looked very different this year.
Because most high schools were closed due to national and local health restrictions, there were no large meetings on campus. So the athletes and their families did their best to recreate the sign-day atmosphere at home, with tables lined with college banners and balloon bunches and other decorations.
Santiago High reported the largest daytime course signing in the backcountry, with 15 athletes signing letters of intent. More than half are from the girls’ soccer program that captured the CIF Southern Section Division 1 Championship last season: Emma Becerra (New Mexico), Trinity Corcoran (Northern Arizona), Shayne Douglas (UC Santa Barbara), Grayson Jones (Manhattan College) , Jenae Perez (UC Irvine), Mihaela Perez (UC Irvine), Autumn Thompkins (UC Irvine), and Brooke Uceda (Fresno Pacific).
Two of the best inland basketball players have also signed. Damien’s Malik Thomas, who was last season’s Sun / Bulletin boys basketball player of the year, signed with USC. Centennial’s Jayda Curry, Press-Enterprise’s girl basketball player of the year last season, signed her letter of intent to play with Cal.
Damien also had an impressive group of baseball players signing letters: Ivan Aguirre (Navy), Dylan Alanis (UNLV), Daniel Barrera (Pacific) Matthew Clark (Arizona) and Kaden Moeller (Long Beach State).
There were also three players who helped Vista Murrieta’s girls’ volleyball team win the CIF State Division I Championship last season. Molly Wilson and Rachel Holmberg will play indoor volleyball in Washington and St. Katherine respectively, while Kela Moreno signed on for beach volleyball with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Roosevelt girls’ water polo striking Gracie Helberg signed her letter to play at UC Irvine. She is the third Helberg sister to sign with a Division I college in the past eight years. Jada Helberg (Class of 2014) signed with Cal State Bakersfield for water polo, and Jenna Helberg (Class of 2018) signed with the College of Charleston to play softball.
The early signing period is for all sports except football. Footballers can sign in early December and during the regular period starting on February 3.
AQUINAS
Jessa Amori, Girls Volleyball, King University
Alexa Duran, softball, UC Riverside
Janel Pido, Girls Volleyball, Southwest Baptist University
Anissa Villalobos, Softball, Manhattan College
BEAUMONT
Irene Martin, softball, Morgan State
CAJON
Taylor Brooks, softball, Mary University
Eli Grande, Boys Water Polo, McKendree University
CARTER
Jonathan Otero, Boys Soccer, Ottawa University
CENTENARY
Hudson Boncal, Baseball, Ohio University
Laurie Cooke, softball, Newman University
Jayda Curry, Girls’ Basketball, Cal
Makenna Dashiell, softball, Cal Baptist
Miranda Evans, cheering stunt, Cal Baptist
Brie Lowman, softball, Cal State San Bernardino
Faith Moreno, Girls Lacrosse, Culver-Stockton College
Trinity San Antonio, girls’ basketball, Cal Baptist
DENSE THICKNESS
Brooke Frederick, Girls Volleyball, Weber State
Makenzie Guiliano, softball, Cal State San Marcos
Anna Hawthorne, Girls Volleyball, Cal State Fullerton
Jakob Hudson, Boys Lacrosse, Westcliff University
Jaelynn Lambert, softball, BYU
CHINO
Jillian Hernandez, softball, La Sierra University
Emily Jordan, Softball, Fort Hays University
CHINO HILLS
Johan Camarillo, boys golf, Sacred Heart
Kayla Chavez, softball, Minnesota
Mykenzie Hanna, softball, Boise State
Payton Kelly, Softball, Cal State Fullerton
Kendall Mangel, softball, Nebraska
Ioana Soares, softball, University of the Southwest
CITRUS VALLEY
Sophia DiCarlo, Softball, Grinnell College
Mika Lee, softball, Cal
Ella Nadeau, softball, Stanford
COLTON
Alex Navarette, Baseball, Long Beach State
DAMIEN
Ivan Aguirre, baseball, navy
Dylan Alanis, Baseball, UNLV
Daniel Barrera, Baseball, Pacific
Matthew Clark, Baseball, Arizona
Kaden Moeller, Baseball, Long Beach State
Malik Thomas, Boys Basketball, USC
ELSINORE
Bryan Romero, Boys Basketball, St. Katherine
ETIWANDA
Jack Holman, Baseball, UCLA
BIG TERRACE
Nikki Barboza, softball, Sacramento State
Priscilla Estrada, softball, Cal Baptist
Destany Lewis, Swim Girls, Florida State
Ashlyn Zermeno, softball, Saint Mary’s
LARGE OAK
Kielle Legoo, girls water polo, San Jose State
Quincee Lilio, softball, Oklahoma
Will Potter, baseball, Cal Baptist
James Wright, Boys Athletics, Stanford
KING
Alexis Chavez, softball, Louisiana-Monroe
Amanda Gull, softball, Furman
Owen Vasta, Boys Soccer, Loyola Marymount
Evan Yates, Baseball, Cal State Fullerton
MORENO VALLEY
Anthony Silva, Baseball, Cal Baptist
MURRIETA TABLE
Madison Corey, Girls Volleyball, Hendrix College
Kailey Crisman, cheer, Liberty
Kelsey Crisman, cheer, Liberty
Bella Flexen, softball, Long Beach State
Victoria Howard, Softball, Missouri Valley College
Delaney Kiendra, Girls Volleyball, Adelphi University
Becca Lipp, Girls Soccer, Newberry College
Abigail Macias, Girls Volleyball, Cal State Northridge
Makana Olaso, Baseball, San Jose State
Jayden Raineri, Baseball, Salem University
Sophia Ruiz, softball, Saint Martin’s University
Kaila Thunstrom, Girls Volleyball, State of Utah
Natalie Torrez, Stunt Cheer, Cal Baptist
MURRIETA VALLEY
Miya Carmichael, girls volleyball, navy
Sila Fedler, girls water polo, UC San Diego
Rebecca Hale, girls water polo, Long Beach State
Sofia Sollie, girls water polo, Indiana
Avery Wood, girl water polo, Cal Baptist
NORCO
Stevie Hansen, softball, Oregon
Neva Pulin, softball, Hawaii Pacific
ONTARIO CHRISTIAN
Bridgette Trujillo, softball, Biola
PALOMA VALLEY
Caleb Anderson, Baseball, Cal State Fullerton
Wyatt Bush, Baseball, UC Irvine
Shannon Durkin, Girls Volleyball, Siena College
Jeffrey Hanmer, Boys Volleyball, Cal State Northridge
RAMONA
Briana Lopez, softball, Hawaii
REDLANDS
Lindsay Cabral, softball, Saint Mary’s
REDLANDS EAST VALLEY
Riley Anthony, Softball, Franklin and Marshall
Chase Dabbs, Baseball, Saint Mary’s
Taylor Muchmore, Girls Golf, Point Loma
Oziomachukwu Ozonoh, girls volleyball, Villanova
Mackenzie San Pedro, softball, Cal Baptist
RIVERSIDE POLY
Emma Nosenchuck, girls water polo, Siena
ROOSEVELT
Gracie Helberg, Girls Water Polo, UC Irvine
SANTIAGO
Isabel Barrientos, Girls Lacrosse, Missouri Western State
Emma Becerra, Girls Soccer, New Mexico
Trinity Corcoran, Girls Soccer, Northern Arizona
Shayne Douglas, Girls Soccer, UC Santa Barbara
Brandon Downer, Baseball, Cal Baptist
Lauren Grover, Girls Volleyball, Santa Clara
Grayson Jones, Girls Soccer, Manhattan College
Mario Landeros, Baseball, Eastern Oregon University
Madison Little, Girls Water Polo, Cal State Northridge
Kaylah Nelsen, softball, Oregon State
Madison O’Hara, Girls Water Polo, UC Irvine
Jenae Perez, Girls Soccer, UC Irvine
Mihaela Perez, Girls Soccer, UC Irvine
Autumn Thompkins, Girls Soccer, UC Irvine
Brooke Uceda, Girls Soccer, Fresno Pacific
ST. LUCY’S
Sofia Cervantes, softball Cal State Monterey Bay
Stevilyn Griffin, Girls Water Polo, State of Arizona
Marly Lough, Swim Girls, Penn State
TEMECULA VALLEY
Kennedy Adams, Girls Volleyball, Cal State Monterey Bay
Kailyn Bandel, softball, Briar-Cliff University
Ashlyn Beaver, Girls Volleyball, State of Oregon
Meadow Copper, Girls Volleyball, State of Arizona
Morgan Witz, Girls Soccer, Cal Baptist
TAHQUITZ
Gavin Meyer, Baseball, Cal State Fullerton
UPLAND
Marissa Caballero, softball, Long Beach State
Tiana Egland, Girls Soccer, San Diego
Sara Haendiges, softball, Oregon State
Natalia Lira, softball, Portland State
Madison Souza, softball, Columbia
Chloe Tadolini, Girls Soccer, Toledo
MURRIETA VIEW
Katelyn Cornejo, girls water polo, Cal State Northridge
Samantha Ganaden, softball, Hartford
Rachel Holmberg, Girls Volleyball, St. Katherine
Nathan Martinez, Baseball, Nevada
LeTrey McCollum, Baseball, UC Santa Barbara
Kela Moreno, Beach Volleyball, Texas A&M Corpus Christi
Molly Wilson, Girls Volleyball, Washington
WEBB
Gabe Bustamante, Baseball, Central Washington
WOOD CREST CHRISTIAN
Angelina Allen, softball, Iowa State
YUCAIPA
Mitchell Carpenter, Boys Water Polo, Biola
Caden Huber, baseball, USC
Luke Franklin, boys water polo, Biola
Kaelyn Loncharich, softball, Providence
