Sister Act

In this day and age every student athlete wants to continue their sport at the next level, which is college. It’s rare for one member of a family to achieve that opportunity. It’s even rarer for two people to achieve it.  Rachel and Rebecca Ho are two Golden Valley graduates who have done just that.  Stars on the tennis court and in the classroom their success on the hard-court earned them both scholarships to the college level.  Rachel attends UCSB and Rebecca is a student at Washington University in St. Louis Missouri.

Both were stars at Golden Valley High School in Santa Clarita for Head Coach Josh Stimac, “Rachel was a fierce competitor which earned her a great deal of respect around the league. She was also well liked around the league on and off the court because of her easy going and friendly demeanor.” Younger sister Rebecca on the other hand, “was relentless on the court. Earning first team all-league for three years, two of which she was the foothill league individual singles champion,” said Stimac. Rebecca finished 160-13, engraving her name as the winningest girl’s tennis player at Golden Valley High school. “Rebecca is one of the most successful female athletes that ever attended Golden Valley”.

As the sisters had to learn on the fly and transition to playing at the next level, they both mentioned that they continue to use their same style of play from high school. “There hasn’t been any change in my stroke or play style,” said Rebecca. Although the Ho sisters bring their same savvy play style from high school, they still had to adjust to the higher level of competition. On the other hand, in some occasions you could get an early preview of what collegiate sports could be like. “The competition in college is definitely much more challenging, although there were a few exceptional players from the other high schools that presented me with difficult challenges,” Rachel mentioned. That competition in high school allowed Rachel important preparation for success at the next level.

The high level of competition wasn’t the only the struggle the two young ladies faced, juggling their academics with tennis was the most enormous task they're currently facing. “My biggest challenge is managing my time with school and also keeping up with other athletes who have trained just as hard, if not harder than I have” said Rachel.   Both sisters mutually agree how difficult the task can be. “It’s very tough to balance the two effectively” Older sister Rebecca mentioned. Of course balancing the two can be very challenging, but it is even tougher when you attend Washington University which is one of the top fifteen institutes in the country. The well-known UCSB isn’t exactly the easiest schools to attend either. The two sisters aren’t just achieving their goal of being a student athlete at the college level; they are going above and beyond by earning an education at two of the toughest and competitive schools in the nation.

By Nash Solimon

Toby Okunna Signs

Toby Okunna signed his national letter of intent  yesterday to Western New Mexico University. Okunna has only been playing high school football for 2 years but in that time he saw an opportunity that his talents might earn him a scholarship at the next level. " I have worked very hard for this from lifting at 6 in the morning before school to working out another 3 hours after school". Okunna looks to make an immediate impact on the team playing defense end and linebacker by hopefully contributing the Mustangs to a wining season.

by Nick Herrera

2015 Signing Day at Golden Valley

This year Golden Valley had 3 student-athletes sign scholarships. Zachary Bygum, a baseball player, signed with Dartmouth College an Ivy League school in New Hampshire. Vincent Hill, a baseball player signed with Midland University in Nebraska. Golden Valley’s lone football player that signed a scholarship was Nash Soliman, who will be attending Northern Montana State University.

                       

Zachary Bygum is second year Varsity pitcher for The Grizzlies. Zachary is a hard throwing right hander standing at a towering 6 ft. 6 inches with a fastball that can reach up to 88 mph. Dartmouth is a highly touted Ivy League school and Zachary’s 4.1 overall grade point average and talented pitching abilities is what convinced the Dartmouth staff to pursue Zach.

Vincent Hill also in his second year as a Varsity pitcher, has a wide variety of pitches that cause miss-matches for opposing batters.  With a devastating curveball and newly acquired slider that just breaks off the plate, Vincent has the perfect size for a pitcher trying to succeed at the next level.  Standing in at 6 ft. 4 inches he definitely has a pitchers frame and has plenty of  room to fill out in order to be successful as a college pitcher. Midland University is an NAIA school located just outside of Omaha.  After visiting the school Vincent decided that it was the right fit for him and his family, “I discussed it over with my friends and family, and agreed that it gave me the best opportunity to play at the next level.”

Nash Soliman had a solid season for The Grizzlies who had a rough time finding bright spots this season. With 25 catches for 400 yards averaging 16 yards a catch Nash wasn’t a standout but a solid player for first year coach Dan Kelley. Nash isn’t going to kill you with size standing in at 5’7 and 150 pounds, but runs excellent routes and has great knowledge of the game. Northern Montana State University has found what people call a diamond in the rough.  A tough kid with very promising skill set this is the perfect fit for Nash.  “I talked to the coaches and they liked my abilities as a football player.  I wanted to continue to play at the next level and this is a great situation for me.”

by Andrew Sabedra