5 athletes were recognized for college athletic commitments at lunch on Wednesday, April 16.
Cross country and track & field runner Aidan Goltra signed to compete for Columbia University. “I’m mostly just looking forward to having more competition on the NCAA level and hanging out with the new team,” he said.
“It’s obviously one of the best schools in the country, but beyond that, out of all the teams in the country that I visited, they were the closest with each other,” he said.
Goltra believes that being part of a successful high school track and cross country team opened up his college opportunities. “Chuck really knows what he’s doing,” he said. He added that Campolindo cross country and track provided him with a “culture” of working hard.
Goltra has been running competitively since middle school.
Golfers Jim Coon and Manny Manzone signed to the University of Hawaii Hilo. Coon is especially excited about the school’s location. “Hawaii’s a great place,” he said. “There are a lot of great golf courses.”
Coon is looking forward to going to college with Manzone and the rest of the golf team. “My best friend is playing with me, and all of the guys there are really cool,” he said. “[Campo sports] helped me prepare for next year and showed me what a golf team is supposed to be like.”
Coon has been playing golf since he was 8 years old.
Kendall Green signed to the University of New Hampshire, a Division 1 school, for gymnastics. “I’ve done gymnastics my whole life, so it’s nothing really new,” she said. She is looking forward to being part of a team and being far away from home. The university recruited her last year, and she was especially attracted to the campus and its location on the east coast, along with the kindness of the other gymnasts and coaches.
Swimmer Alex Sheiman signed to Drury University in Missouri. “I feel like it will definitely be difficult with the homework load and swimming,” he said.
Sheiman got along with his new teammates when he met them. “Being part of a swim team will be easier to make friends so I can have a group of people that I’m always comfortable with and so I can always see someone on campus that I know,” he said.
Drury is a Division 2 school, but Shieman says they have a great swim team that won the NCAA this year. He attributes his success to the continuity of his youth and high school training. “My club coach is the high school coach, so I usually train with my club coach,” he said.
Shieman believes that college training will not be significantly harder or more intense than the workouts he is already doing.
Shieman began year-round swimming when he was 13.
