Local athletes look forward to future with clarity following fall signing day
At the top of a staircase overlooking the central quad at Laguna Beach High, eight athletes excited about their next adventure had vanished among a sea of admirers.
The occasion was not a new one, but it was their turn, as they took pen to paper to declare the intent to continue playing a sport for a college of their choosing. Dozens of local athletes did the same Wednesday to kick off the fall signing period.
Success in the pool was front and center for Laguna Beach, with half of the school’s signees joining collegiate water polo programs.
“It was really the family aspect that they have there on the team,” Ava Knepper, a USC-bound attacker, said of her decision. “I just loved the energy there, and honestly, as soon as I set foot on the campus, I knew I loved it.”
Laguna Beach also celebrated the accomplishments of Cade Anderton (Pepperdine) and Tyler Swensen (Santa Clara). The duo helped the Breakers reach the CIF Southern Section Division 1 final, in which they will face Huntington Beach on Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College Aquatic Center.
Christian Hammonds (UC San Diego), Jay Pyle (Air Force) and Ethan Spoon (UC Irvine) will all be featured in that game for the Oilers.
The Newport Harbor boys’ water polo team advanced to the Open Division final with a thrilling win over Studio City Harvard-Westlake. Peter Castillo (UCLA), Owen Tift (Pepperdine), Gavin Appeldorn (Princeton) and Quinn Bartlett (Navy) will be among those leading the Sailors into battle against JSerra in the championship game.
Huntington Beach will hold a signing-day ceremony for its college-bound athletes in the winter, but nearly two dozen wanted to write their name on the dotted line this week.
Dominant left-handed pitcher Zoe Prystajko headlined the group, along with six members of the girls’ volleyball team that made it to within one match of the Division 1 final this fall.
“It feels amazing,” said middle blocker Kylie Leopard, who committed to Cal Poly Pomona in the days leading up to signing day. “The past couple years have been really tough for me because not knowing kills me. Not knowing where I was going to go next and where my life was going to take me after this was really hard.
“As happy as I was to see all my friends committing, it’s also hard because it’s like, ‘Why can’t I get somewhere?’ I put so much work and so much effort into everything I’ve done. I’m just really happy that all my hard work paid off. … I really, really, really wanted to play at the next level.”
Highly regarded offensive tackle Justin Tauanuu flipped his commitment on Friday. Previously committed to Stanford, he switched to USC.
“1,000% committed to further my academic and football career at the University of Southern California,” Tauanuu posted Friday morning on the social media platform X. “FIGHT ON.”
Corona del Mar’s Niels Hoffmann, a blue-chip recruit on the tennis court, will be headed to USC, as will Sea Kings outside hitter Sterling Foley, who played for the Team USA U19 national team in boys’ volleyball.
The Fountain Valley wrestling program saw three of its state qualifiers sign in Anthony Lucio and Hercules Windrath (both Cal Poly) and Ryland Whitworth (West Point).
Below is a list of local athletes who have signed or committed with a college:
CORONA DEL MAR
Antonio Aramburu, San Francisco State men’s wrestling
Jack Cross, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo men’s tennis
Sterling Foley, USC men’s volleyball
Ryan Gant, Stanford men’s volleyball
Niels Hoffmann, USC men’s tennis
Charlie Olson, Gonzaga men’s golf
Ava Schoening, Brown University women’s water polo
EDISON
Hailey Clingan, UC Irvine women’s soccer
Chloe Lam, Santa Clara University women’s golf
Morgan Gillinger, Cal State Northridge beach volleyball
Elia Reyes, Lewis and Clark College lacrosse
Molly McCluskey, UC San Diego women’s volleyball
Summer Witherby, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo beach volleyball
Sammy Wood, Santa Clara University beach volleyball
FOUNTAIN VALLEY
Makenzie Butt, Boise State softball
Jessica Jang, Cal Baptist women’s water polo
Kayla Knoob, Cal State San Marcos women’s soccer
Anthony Lucio, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo men’s wrestling
Taylor Reynolds, Wagner softball
Ryland Whitworth, West Point men’s wrestling
Hercules Windrath, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo men’s wrestling
HUNTINGTON BEACH
Nathan Acevas, UC Santa Barbara baseball
Jaiden Anderson, USC women’s soccer
Sage Anderson, UC Santa Barbara softball
Ben Bray, Grand Canyon University men’s volleyball
Marley Garwick, Fresno State University women’s water polo
Lola Fernsten, UC Davis women’s volleyball
Meghan Freck, UC Davis women’s volleyball
Macy Fuller, Cal State San Marcos softball
Christian Hammonds, UC San Diego men’s water polo
Matt Hansen, BYU baseball
Lyndsay Harris, Alabama State women’s volleyball
Sydney Harris, Tennessee rowing
Haylee LaFontaine, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo women’s volleyball
Kylie Leopard, Cal Poly Pomona women’s volleyball
Ashley Long, University of Nebraska, Omaha softball
Liah Lummus, Loyola Marymount softball
Collin McNiven, Claremont McKenna baseball
Jake Pazanti, Long Beach State men’s volleyball
Zoe Prystajko, Stanford softball
Jay Pyle, Air Force men’s water polo
Dani Sparks, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo women’s volleyball
Ethan Spoon, UC Irvine men’s water polo
Justin Tauanuu, USC football
LAGUNA BEACH
Cade Anderton, Pepperdine University men’s water polo
Sam Burchi, Lewis and Clark University baseball
Emerson Hensley, Brown University women’s water polo
Ava Knepper, USC women’s water polo
Jessica MacCallum, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo women’s tennis
Kate Parker, Auburn University equestrian
Ryner Swanson, BYU football
Tyler Swensen, Santa Clara University men’s water polo
MARINA
Coral Piramo, Slippery Rock field hockey
NEWPORT HARBOR
Gavin Appeldorn, Princeton men’s water polo
Quinn Bartlett, Navy men’s water polo
Peter Castillo, UCLA men’s water polo
Ryan Chalupnik, UCLA women’s water polo
Taryn Graves, Tennessee rowing
Riggs Guy, UC Santa Barbara men’s volleyball
Kate Kubiak, Oregon women’s soccer
Angelena Peterson, Marist College women’s water polo
Chloe Rizof, Santa Clara University women’s water polo
Ally Thomas, University of Mississippi women’s soccer
Owen Tift, Pepperdine men’s water polo
Jack Von Der Ahe, USC men’s volleyball
OCEAN VIEW
Ashley Capelouto, Tennessee Tech softball
Sienna Erskine, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo softball
PACIFICA CHRISTIAN
Alex Stewart, Vanguard University men’s basketball
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.
