Four Athletes, Four Colleges

As the four years of high school begins to wrap up for the class of 2020, seniors need to prepare for a new challenge. The highly anticipated, yet nerve wracking experience opens the doors to brand new opportunities. Some students are already decided with the colleges they want to or are going to, but there are also those who have chosen not to go to college for whatever reason. 

Those who do go, recognize the input and effort that it takes to get into a school. Some students have the privilege of being scouted and even earning scholarships to colleges. For four hardworking Saints, this was the case. All four of them are incredible athletes whose hardwork and talent helped them earn scholarships for sports.

On November 13th, student-athletes, Jordan Dugan-Heard, D’Andre Smith, Isaiah Marquez, and Liam Rocha. Dugan-Heard is going to Whittier College for her amazing talent as a volleyball player, while the three other boys are going to for baseball. Rocha is heading to California Baptist University, while Marquez chose to go to California State University, Long Beach, but most excitingly, Smith is going to University of Southern California, or better known as USC.

For a lot of people, going into a school is a difficult choice, but these select few student-athletes had multiple schools interested in them. When asked if it was hard to choose a school to commit to, senior, D’Andre Smith explained, UC “Riverside, Long Beach State, Cal State Fullerton, a lot of local schools wanted me. I chose USC because the tradition there is nice, the field is nice, and everyone here wants to go to that school. It’s a good school.”

Marquez put in his input and stated, “A few colleges were interested in me, but I really liked the coaches at Long Beach, which is why I went that direction.”

When the athletes acknowledged the different schools attention, they had to take their sports in a more serious manner, and put in harder work. “It pushed me to always try my best, and not cut corners. I always wanted to play at my best,” is what Marquez let us know on how his game level changed.

Smith also reinforced, “I’ve been working for this moment, I’m ready to play college baseball.”

It may seem like a difficult task to balance academics, life, and sports, but these students had to find the right balance in order to stay in the route they were headed. “Just knowing what I had to do, like working out, working on homework as soon as I get home, and prioritizing time right was crucial for me,” added Smith on the topic of time management and finding a balance. Marquez shared, “I try to find a balance between the two, but for me, I focus on sports first, and then academics.” 

The two teammates and friends, Smith and Marquez, also wanted to mention that they’re going to miss each other, but that they won’t be too far away. They hope to meet again on the baseball field, and wish each other the best of luck. Neither of them feel intimidated about going to a division 1 school for baseball, they feel ready and excited. The school also feels excited for all four of these student-athletes, and wishes all of them a very successful future.