On Wednesday, April 24, five of Santa Barbara High School’s student athletes committed to continue their athletic careers in college. Each athlete signed their letters of intent at a ceremony held in Peabody Stadium. 

Olivia Battles committed to Occidental College for Lacrosse. She is very excited to be continuing playing the sport in the future claiming this has been nine years in the making and she is excited for another four years. The reason she chose Occidental is because, “I believe that it was fate from the moment I stepped on campus because it just so happened I met a lacrosse girl. I was able to get the coach’s email, but even though I had no film [of me playing] I sent a video of my practice. The coach saw something in me which I appreciated. I also got to spend some time with the team, and saw how kind and friendly they all were.”

Estella Gray committed to Occidental College for Water Polo. She feels happy and relieved that all of her hard work has paid off. Why she chose Occidental is “everyone seemed kind and hardworking to progress and become better at their sport and also their academics. They also have a wonderful pre-health program which I really look forward to participating in.”

Layla Szymczak committed to Pomona College for Water Polo. She said, “It makes me feel reassured knowing that it’s finally official that I will continue playing in the future.” What drew her into choosing Pomona was the great campus. “It reminds me of the Montecito or Santa Barbara vibes which I love. Also it is able to challenge me academically and I’d be with a great team that I could see myself with.”

Liam Keithley committed to Cal Lutheran for Baseball. He is relieved to finally sign and be done with the recruitment process, he is ready to play and become a Kingsman. Something he likes about the school is “how they treat their guys down there, and they even had me down there overnight and I got to hang out with the team.” 

Sierra Gronquist committed to Westmont College for Track and Field. She feels very relieved and even though it was a last minute decision, she felt like she knew the whole time she would choose Westmont. What drew her in was “they have a really great coach and very welcoming team. And even though I did want to initially go away, honestly something was calling me at Westmont.”

Special thanks to Diego Sandoval/Noozhawk for student responses at the event.