A 10 of a signing day
Mullen enjoys variety.
It was the first Wednesday in February, so senior athletes here and across the country knew what it meant.
It was the latest National Signing Day, but Mullen modified the usual with the unusual.
In addition to the ubiquitous pen, paper, balloons, hugs, waves of pictures taken and store-bought sheet cake, the Mustangs sent 10 to the signing table that included commitments from coast-to-coast as well as one in merry, old England; a couple of teammates who will stay that way into the next level; and a couple of classmates who will be on the same campus, but on different sports teams.
Isabella Davis Cisneros, Angelo Paul Damian, Alexandra Kay Deorio, Jack Edmund Golenzer, Wind Lee Henderson, Demitra Katerina Loukopoulos, Jordyn Jay Medina, William Joseph Miller, Cassandra Jean Pine and Vaughnn Jon Stitt are signed, sealed and soon to be delivered.
Cisneros signed for lacrosse with the the Bowdoin Polar Bears of Brunswick, Maine.
“It’s very good academically, so that’s what my first choice was,” she said. “I’m just very excited about going.”
She’ll be in her fourth year of playing lacrosse for the Mustangs. She was all-league honorable mention and is a member of the National Honor Society, National Social Studies Honor Society and the National Spanish Honors Society. She’s a two-time Mullen Torch Award Winner and has a 4.0 grade-point average.
A heavyweight wrestler, Damian signed with Hastings College in Nebraska.
“They were all real welcoming, just super friendly,” Damian said of Broncos personnel, “and the way they set up their classes fit me very well.”
He’s a four-year letterman in football and three-year winner in wrestling. As a freshman, he was Newcomer of the Year. Damian remains undecided on a college major.
Deorio will take her soccer talents abroad. She signed with Nottingham University in England.
“It was kind of just a visit and following up with the school right away and the coach, and it was an easy decision,” she said.
She has won the Torch Award multiple times and made the Les Schwabb All-Academic Team. With a 4.1 GPA, she will work toward a degree in biology.
Golenzer will be one of the Fighting Bees playing baseball at St. Ambrose in Davenport, Iowa.
“It’s the place where I wanted to be and I’m very satisfied,” he said. “It offers a good future.”
A three-sporter as a freshman, Golenzer will be entering his fourth season in baseball for the Mustangs. He has a 2.8 GPA and will center on business and sports management with the Fighting Bees.
The speedy Henderson will stay near home and play football at Northern Colorado.
He said he had a couple of options, but UNC offered the best situation financially, “and the business school is pretty good.”
The wide receiver was first team all-Metro West League as well as runner-up in the 4A long jump the previous spring. He’s also on assorted relays. Heavily involved with Lasallian Service Learning, Henderson has a 3.2 GPA.
Loukopoulos and Medina inked deals to play basketball at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, N.Y.
“I’ve been talking with them for a couple of years and am looking forward to it,” she said.
She was named to the Les Schwabb All-Academic Team, a two-time Torch Award winner, and member of the National Honor Society, National French Honor Society and National Social Studies Honor Society.
Loukopoulos has a 4.08 GPA and will center on business.
Medina decided to become a Gryphon, she said, at the behest of her brother, Joseph Ortega, a lawyer in New York City.
“And I’m really happy with it,” she said.
A recipient of a subject award in Spanish Honors II and cited for efforts on the National Spanish Exam, Medina also is a member of Mullen’s concert band, worked on the spring musical and is in the Photograph and Film Club. She has a 3.6 GPA.
Loukopoulos and Medina have helped the Mustangs to a top-10 ranking in 4A and it appears they will finish no lower than third in the top-heavy Centennial League.
Miller, a left-handed pitcher, will play at Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa.
He said he immediately picked up on several likeable aspects of the school, notably that “you can take one course for four-and-one-half weeks, then take a test. That appeals to me. I’m just excited to get there and get to work.”
Mullen’s opening-day pitcher a year ago, Miller also is a Torch recipient, was selected to the All-Academic Team, earned subject awards in Spanish, Worls History and Forensics Science, and has a 3.85 GPA. He’s in the National Honor Society and National Social Studies Honor Society. He will major in political science.
Pine will be a thrower in track and field at Hastings. She will do the discus and shot put for the Mustangs, and expand on it for the Broncos.
“This will be a new experience for me,” she said. “This fits me and I’ll be learning the hammer (throw).”
She has won three letters in track and field, has a 2.9 GPA and will study business.
As for Stitt, it will be football at West Hills Community College in Coalinga, Calif.
“I think it’s the best place for me,” the defensive back said, “and I’ll go to a four-year school after it. I’ll start a new journey in California.”
A letterman in football, basketball and track, Stitt also was all-Metro West the past season and has helped the basketball team into the 5A playoffs as a guard.
A member of the Black and Latino Club at Mullen, he plans to major in business.
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