Mullen adds a fab 4 to a signing day

The fab fourth of signing days for Mullen occurred on Wednesday, with, fittingly, four Mustangs off to a popular local stop, as well as California, Illinois and Oregon, covering the sports of swimming, cross country and track and field, and volleyball.

Blayze Jessen, Shannon Stone, Kendall Malone and Bryce Medaris each made it official – college academics and sports await them.

Concerning the local, Blayze Jessen will swim at the University of Denver, where it’s close to his house, where his club team competes and where he wanted to be for the next few years.

“It feels like home,” Jessen said during a ceremony at Hutchison Fieldhouse.

He is working on completing work for his fourth letter as a Mustangs swimmer. A regular Centennial League winner, Jessen, over the past two seasons, also was second in the 200-yard individual medley, added a third in the event and was fourth in the 100 breaststroke at Colorado’s Class 4A meet. A year ago, he was a USA Swimming Scholastic All-American.

A student with a 3.5 grade-point average who plans to major in business, Jessen said he’s relieved about finally signing.

“It’s not as stressful and I don’t have to keep proving myself,” he said. “Now, I can just work on myself.”

For Stone, she’s busy and nearing her 10th letter for the Mustangs, and currently competes at No. 3 singles tennis. This was after swimming and volleyball, the latter her true love. In fact, her deal with Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, Calif., is to play indoor volleyball in the fall and outdoor, on the sand, in the spring.

The outdoor game also was, she said, “a deal-breaker.” Stone was adamant about getting to play in the sand. “More touches,” she said.

As for the 10-letter thing, she termed it “super cool and that was my goal after freshman year.”

In tennis, she was a three-time state qualifier and two-time regional champion. In volleyball, twice she was captain of the Mustangs, and was a second-team choice in the Centennial League.

Also an honorable-mention Academic all-stater, she has a 3.3 GPA and remains undecided on a major.

Malone, headed to Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Ore., actually earned a windfall of sorts.

“I can’t wait to get up there,” she said. “I reached out to them academically and it was where I really wanted to go. I just fell in love with it.”

Getting to play on the volleyball team, she said, “was just a bonus … it was where I wanted to go to school, even if I didn’t play. But this makes it
even better.”

She was first team all-Centennial in the fall as well as 4A honorable-mention all-state. Malone also was selected by the Colorado Coaches of Girls Sports All-State Team. A Mullen Torch Award winner with a 4.2 GPA, Malone is in the National Honor Society and National Social Studies Honors Society. It will be computer science and physics as main studies for her at Lewis and Clark.

It’s about distance for Medaris, as in running, and he’s doubling in cross country and track and field at Lewis University in Romeoville, Ill. They are the Flyers and it’s fitting for Medaris, who loves to run and recently was clocked in 6 minutes, 28 seconds in the 2k steeplechase, a national top-10 time.

“The coach showed me ropes there,” Medaris said, “and I really liked it.”

The Flyers should like him – Medaris qualified for the state meet three times; twice was named all-Centennial; he was a champion at the local Liberty Bell Invitational in cross country; and is considered a 2k steeplechase All-American.

Team captain, Academic all-state and president of the art club, Medaris carries a 3.4 GPA and plans to study criminology. He’s fascinated by ballistics.

Who knows? Will he be on one of those prime-time shows?