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Nine Warriors participate in letter of intent ceremony

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

Nine Fallbrook High School seniors participated in a letter of intent signing ceremony at the school April 19.

Eight of them were present at the morning ceremony: Mitchell Baker will play baseball for San Diego Christian College; Brianna Beath will be part of the Lindenwood University women's rugby program; Jordan Duncan will be on the Dartmouth College women's rugby team; Baylee Howley will play softball for the University of North Dakota; Naya Kurnik will be a member of the Vassar College women's basketball team; Tianha Padilla will continue her rugby career at Harvard University; Cole Tenger will play men's lacrosse at the University of Montevallo, and Rose Wagner will pole vault for the University of Massachusetts Amherst women's track and field team. Paige Gartner, who will play women's soccer for Air Force Academy, was not able to attend the morning ceremonial signing.

"This is like the culmination," said Fallbrook athletic director Pat Walker.

"This is like blood, sweat, and tears, all of the hard work. This started a long time ago," Walker said. "This is their dedication in the classroom, too."

Because the signing was ceremonial, letters of intent were not actually signed April 19. Many student-athletes signed their letters of intent earlier. The ceremony also allows athletes who attend NCAA Division III or other non-scholarship programs to participate as well as students attending military academies which do not have official letters of intent.

"We at the high school just wanted to make sure to let the community know," said Fallbrook Union High School District college and career education coordinator Pam Cain.

Cain noted that the college offers weren't just for the student-athletes' sports skills. "They all got there based on their athletic talents but also their academic ability," she said.

"Just proud of the kids, absolutely," Walker said.

San Diego Christian College is in Santee, although the Hawks play home games at various community colleges throughout San Diego County. Lindenwood University is in St. Charles, Missouri. Dartmouth is in Hanover, New Hampshire. The University of North Dakota is in Grand Forks. Vassar is in Poughkeepsie, New York, which is approximately midway between New York City and Albany. Harvard is in the Boston suburb of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The University of Montevallo is in Montevallo, Alabama, which is about 35 miles south of Birmingham. Amherst is about 90 miles from Boston. Air Force Academy is in Colorado Springs.

"It's a good number of places represented," said Fallbrook High School Principal Lauren Jones. "It's exciting."

Jones noted that the students lost two full or partial school years of in-class instruction and of sports due to the coronavirus epidemic. "They are just blowing everybody away this year with how they're doing," she said.

"What a great group of kids. They're amazing," Cain said. "I'm really proud of all of them."

Editor's note: Articles on each of the student/athletes will be coming in future issues of the Village News.

 

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