Five Sierra Canyon athletes sign national letters of intents on National Signing Day

As one views the “Trailblazers Playing in College” section of Sierra Canyon’s website, he or she will see that as of the Class of 2015, over 70 student-athletes have gone on to play college sports. The February 2016 signing period, which started on Feb. 3, marked several notable occurrences for both football and girls soccer as five more Sierra Canyon athletes signed their National Letters of Intents to continue their athletic careers on the college level. The event took place on Sierra Canyon’s Upper School Plaza and the signees’ friends, families, coaches, and teachers were in attendance for the event.

The athletes who signed were Bailey Hobson, a defender for girls soccer, signed to UCSD; Peyton Shaffer, a goalkeeper for girls soccer, signed to Fresno Pacific; Christian Hernandez, a linebacker for the football team, signed to Georgetown; and Kohl Hollinquest, a wide receiver and quarterback for the football team and Eric Markes, a wide receiver and defensive back for the football team, both signed to Penn.

“I chose Fresno Pacific because it was able to offer me the opportunity to play my favorite sport for four more years while getting a good education and it feels nice and calming to sign,” Shaffer said.

Head of School Jim Skrumbis welcomed everyone and made a speech about Signing Day becoming a tradition for the school. In addition, he praised the signees for their hard work and how well they represent themselves, their families, and their school.

“It gives me great pride and really great joy to know that our school, our faculty, our coaches and staff have put together a program where kids can get a world-class education and simultaneously have a world-class athletic experience,” Skrumbis said in his speech.

For both teams with athletes signing, several notable occurrences happened at the event. For football, during his speech, Skrumbis brought up that he couldn’t believe how time goes by so fast as his own daughter Vanessa (Sierra Canyon Class of 2011),  had signed her letter of intent to play soccer at Georgetown five years ago, as Hernandez was signing to the same university. Hernandez became the first Sierra Canyon athlete to sign to Georgetown since 2011 when Vanessa signed to play soccer for the Hoyas.

In addition, Hollinquest’s and Markes’s signings make the duo the fifth pair of Sierra Canyon teammates to sign to the same school for the same sport and the third pair of football players to be teammates in college. Also, the duo’s signing makes them part of the group of now six athletes (five for football, one for basketball) that Sierra Canyon has sent to the Ivy League.

As for girls’ soccer, Shaffer becomes the third goalkeeper in school history to continue the sport in college. Also, Hobson’s signing to UCSD makes her part of the second pair of girls soccer teammates to play on the same college team. In the fall, she will join her former high school teammate, Makenna Gandara (Sierra Canyon Class of 2015) on the UCSD soccer team. Hobson and Gandara also played together on the same club team for Real So Cal. Both girls are excited to continue playing together in college.

“I’m so excited to play with my best friend because she motivates me to become a better player and to work as hard as I can and I know she’s going to do amazing things for the program,” Gandara said.

Besides the five signees, Mariah Ewing, a girls soccer defender who is committed to Harvey Mudd, was supposed to join the group of signees today but was unable to attend the ceremony due to surgery. Once she signs her letter of intent, she will become the second Sierra Canyon Girls Soccer player to play for the Claremont Colleges and the eighth person of the Class of 2016 to sign to play college sports. Equestrian rider Matilda Schulman and boys basketball player Devearl Ramsey signed their letters of intents to Oklahoma State and University of Nevada respectively during the early November signing period.

–For the Video Montage by Beard click here.

Here is a photo gallery of National Signing Day at Sierra Canyon:

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— All Photos by The Standard (Sierra Canyon’s Newspaper) PR Manager Brianna Oard, Sports Editor Carly Beard, and Photo Manager Alyssa Nunez.