Doors to the main gym opened wide on March 6 at 2:00 p.m, welcoming in families, friends, coaches, and athletes to celebrate the accomplishments of five female athletes from Central Kitsap High School. This celebration was the college signing event, where recruited athletes get to accept the college’s request for their sport expertise. These five athletes include, swim athletes Haley Borja and Aziza Meyer, softball athlete Ava Day, and track and cross-country athletes Claire Herring and Taylor Palmer.
The event started out with the coaches of each athlete giving a speech about the accomplishments that each of these girls made throughout the entirety of their student athlete career. Softball coach Courtney Cotter talked about Day’s accomplishments throughout her four years in high school softball. Between Day’s sophomore and junior year of high school, she played as an infielder for the first team, and just last year, Day was in the top two for the most valuable player (MVP) of the league.
“I know the countless hours that she has put [into] hitting lessons and always asking if she can use the field to come out and just get some extra reps,” Cotter said. “She is one of those players that will do the extra work to get better. One thing that really has impressed me about Ava, her talent alone speaks for itself, but as a person, and her maturity growing through the last three years, it’s really been exciting to watch.”
The swim head coach Whitney Dodd was unable to make it to the signing event, though Athletic Director Jerrod Fleury read the speech that she left for both Borja and Meyer.
Dodd said that Borja helped break the 100-meter backstroke record and two relay school records several times.
“We knew two things about her before we officially coached her,” Dodd said. “She was quiet until she wasn’t, and she was fast. Both of these were true, as we soon found out, among any more fun things about her, her passion for swim and having goals was quiet and intense, [and] her stance on the block before a race told us everything.”
Dodd’s second speech was all about Meyer and her work ethic as a swimmer. She explained that Meyer was able to podium all four years of her high school swimming career, with Borja right at her side.
“She worked hard and also lent a helping hand to new swimmers, offering to help coach Maddie to show them turns and technique work,” Dodd said. “With one look, I could tell how she was feeling with a race, she was always finding a tiny thing to change or improve, even after an amazing swim.”
Next, the assistant track and cross-country coach Alexa Carr gave her two speeches about Herring and Palmer.
Carr shared that Herring is the fifth place record holder in the 3200 meter for CKHS, as well as fourth place all-time school records in the 1600 meter, and third place record holder for the 5k cross country race.
“Claire came in with that attitude and that willingness to work super hard, and she led by example, and all of the younger girls and the other girls with her just fell in line, and they did amazing things,” Carr said.
Carr’s second speech was about Palmer and her leadership. She said that Palmer is the third place record holder of all school times in both the 800 and 1600 meter, second place in the 3200 meter, and first place all time in the 5k.
“What I’ve always appreciated about Taylor in terms of how she is a leader for her team, is that she’s engaging with the younger runners, she’s leading in terms of how she encouraged people to do workouts, she’s constantly reaching for more and higher levels of work, and both her times, but also her commitment and her attitude,” Carr said.
After each coach gave their heartfelt speeches, the athletes started their symbolic signing for the colleges of their choice. These athletes had previously signed their official contracts with their colleges, so this signing event was an opportunity for celebration and community. Palmer was recruited to Utah State University and explained why she decided that this college was for her.
“I went on a visit there and I got to talk to the team and hang out with the team for that day,” Palmer said. “And out of all the colleges that I had talked to and gone to, I really loved the team culture there. And then, it’s in a little college town, there’s things to do outside and like mountains and that’s kind of the type of vibe I wanted.”
Meyer was recruited to University of Hawaii and described what the moment felt like when she found out the school wanted her to attend and swim for their team.
“It was stressful, intense, and exhilarating getting to finally have reassurance that all my hard work has paid off,” Meyer said.
Herring was recruited to University of Portland and she talked about why that is the right place for her.
“I loved the team, I loved the coaches, but a very big part was that it’s a Catholic school, and I’m Catholic, so I’m excited to be able to live my faith there,” Herring said.
Borja was recruited to Seattle University for her skills in swimming. She shared the preliminary opportunity that she got to experience before finalizing her agreement.
“Getting the chance to talk to all of these really talented college coaches,” Borja said. “Whether or not I committed to this school, it was just really cool and it made me think about my success when I was able to talk to all of these coaches and realize my potential.”
Day was also recruited to Seattle University for her softball specialties; she described that the campus has everything she needs to thrive.
“I decided on Seattle U because I did want to stay home and they had all the programs that I wanted, such as criminal justice and criminology, and wanted to go into the FBI and I also wanted to play division one softball,” Day said.
Through this celebration hosted by Fleury and CKHS, families and friends united with one another to praise the well-deserved accomplishments of these five CKHS athletes.
“I’m just super grateful for the opportunity and grateful for my family and friends that have supported me, and I’m really excited for the next step,” Day said
