By: Monica Cai and Elise Lee

Sterling Hancock: The next four years no longer look uncertain for senior Sterling Hancock after being recruited and committing to play soccer for Brigham Young University (BYU) in Utah this upcoming fall. “I was happy to finally decide my future,” Hancock said. This recruitment has been important to Hancock since he was injured for 11 months because of two fractured vertebrae and a disk compression. This put him on the sidelines during his junior year so he couldn’t play during the Division I soccer scouting season.

The BYU soccer team is in a semi-pro league and all players have to be full-time students. “BYU’s team isn’t restricted by any NCAA rules, which allow them to do a lot of things other college teams aren’t able to do, such as traveling internationally to play against other teams, including the reserves teams of FC Barcelona and Cruz Azul,” Hancock said. BYU is also closely associated with Real Salt Lake, which is a professional team that won the 2009 Major League Soccer Championship. Players from BYU often join the team after college. “I’m looking forward to training and playing with great players and a top class coaching staff every day,” Hancock said.

Teresa Skelly: Volleyball, a sport senior Teresa Skelly decided to pick up in her sophomore year, has become a skill that she is carrying with her to Harvard University. “Teresa is an extremely intense and competitive player, but she is also able to accurately reflect on herself,” former coach Kristen Owen said. “I know she’ll be successful.”

According to Skelly, one of her first coaches, Fred Kieu, gave Skelly the confidence she needed to see that she had a chance at playing volleyball in college. During Skelly’s club season in junior year, all of the players on Skelly’s team were asked to make a list of 30 schools they wanted to apply to. These lists included Yale, Notre Dame, Georgetown, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, Columbia and of course, Harvard.

Through her club, Vision Volleyball, Skelly communicated with Harvard, Yale and Notre Dame through e-mails. However, an unofficial visit to Harvard in March sealed the deal with Harvard. Skelly committed to Harvard on April 8. “I really loved the sense of community on the team, and the school, the location and all the academic opportunities they had to offer,” Skelly said. “When [the coach] told me she had confidence in my ability and in my role on the team, I knew I wanted to go there.” Skelly has already received a letter equivalent to an early acceptance. Her formal acceptance won’t be delivered until the spring.

Travis Bowers: As students anxiously wait for college letters, senior Travis Bowers can relax, having committed to playing baseball for Pomona College in mid-December. “I like everything about it,” Bowers said. “Good location, in the L.A. area, nice campus, pretty small school and nice field.”

Bowers has been playing baseball for about 15 years. “It’s just something that I’ve grown to love over the years,” Bowers said. “Once you start playing, you really enjoy being out there.” Bowers focuses on playing catcher.

Although Bowers also considered Claremont McKenna, Whitman and Occidental Colleges, he knew early on that Pomona Collegewas his top choice. “I did a couple of showcases where I went and played in front of coaches,” Bowers said. Bowers communicated with the Pomona coach through phone and e-mail and also made a recruiting visit in the beginning of the school year. “From what I can tell, [the coach] seems like a great guy,” Bowers said. “He obviously knows his baseball since he’s a college coach, and I think it’ll be a lot of fun playing for him.”

Bowers’ longtime private coach, Donny Kadokowa, sees a great future ahead of Bowers. “I’ve known him since he was 10 and he’s come a long way,” Kadokowa said. “As an incoming freshman, he has the ability to make a huge impact at that program.”

Sunny Margerum: Track and field has been a part of senior Sunny Margerum’s life for as long as she can remember. “I’ve been doing it since I could walk,” Margerum said. “It’s my whole life.” The hurdler and long jumper comes from a long line of track athletes, including her aunt and mother, who competed in the same two events Margerum excels in now.
The long jump and hurdles are also the two events Margerum plans to focus on next year at the University of California Berkeley, where the track star has already committed. “They approached me in September,” Margerum said. “They basically told me about the school, what was good about it and why they thought it would be a good fit for me.”

Margerum’s grandfather and aunt both attended Berkeley and her mother is a former Cal track coach as well, forming quite a legacy. “I think she’ll do very well at Cal because she knows the coaching staff well,” Margerum’s mother and coach, Joy Margerum, said. “They know she can develop well there and they know the history of our family. It’s going to be a great place for her.”
Margerum also paid visits to University of Hawaii and University of California Davis before making her final decision. On Feb. 3, Margerum signed a letter of intent, which is an official form of commitment that binds her to the school. “I just trained hard like I always do,” Margerum said. “I like to push myself to be the best that I can be and reach my goals I set… which led to a scholarship, so my hard work did pay off.”

Since the summer before freshman year, senior Jenny Anderson has worked diligently at school while playing water polo. It paid off, as she was recently recruited by and has committed to Santa Clara University. Anderson did not know about the university until her club coach introduced her to it. “Once I took my visit, I knew it was the school I wanted to go to,” Anderson wrote in an e-mail.
Anderson started to play water polo after her sister did. Anderson originally disliked water polo in middle school, but tried playing again the summer before freshman year. Since then, she has trained at the Stanford Water Polo Club. “They helped me through the recruiting process and taught me all of my fundamental skills,” Anderson wrote.

Anderson has had her ups and downs but was able to pull through with support from her family and friends. “I love the physical and mental challenge water polo presents,” Anderson wrote. Anderson hopes to improve her water polo skills in college.
“I committed to Santa Clara in January, and it has been really hard to do my school work,” Anderson wrote. With swimming, diving and school, Anderson hopes to succeed in everything throughout life.

Jenny Anderson: Since the summer before freshman year, senior Jenny Anderson has worked diligently at school while playing water polo. It paid off, as she was recently recruited by and has committed to Santa Clara University. Anderson did not know about the university until her club coach introduced her to it. “Once I took my visit, I knew it was the school I wanted to go to,” Anderson wrote in an e-mail.

Anderson started to play water polo after her sister did. Anderson originally disliked water polo in middle school, but tried playing again the summer before freshman year. Since then, she has trained at the Stanford Water Polo Club. “They helped me through the recruiting process and taught me all of my fundamental skills,” Anderson wrote.

Anderson has had her ups and downs but was able to pull through with support from her family and friends. “I love the physical and mental challenge water polo presents,” Anderson wrote. Anderson hopes to improve her water polo skills in college.

“I committed to Santa Clara in January, and it has been really hard to do my school work,” Anderson wrote. With swimming, diving and school, Anderson hopes to succeed in everything throughout life.