Shafter thrower Jelmini commits to Arizona State, highlighting busy day for local athletes
| Thursday, Feb 05 2009 01:47 AM
Last Updated Friday, Mar 27 2009 01:28 PM
The following BC and local high school athletes are expected to sign national letters of intent this week to continue their respective athletic careers in college. To add a name, call 395-7324 or e-mail zewing@bakersfield.com.
table.tableizer-table {border: 1px solid #CCC; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;} .tableizer-table td {padding: 4px; margin: 3px; border: 1px solid #ccc;}
.tableizer-firstrow td {background-color: #104E8B; color: #FFF; font-weight: bold;}
| Name | High school/JC | Sport | College |
| Alana Alexander | Centennial | Track and Field | Washington |
| Jeremy Bethell | West | Football | Azusa Pacific |
| Bre Bolerjack | BC (Stockdale) | Soccer | Cal St. East Bay |
| David Born | West | Football | Sacramento St. |
| Derek Carr | Bakersfield Christian | Football | Fresno St |
| Kody Carr | Bakersfield | Football | Benedictine |
| Deidre Crabtree | Liberty | Golf | Cal St. Fullerton |
| Elizabeth Crowe | Bakersfield | Soccer | Columbia U |
| Lance Evboumwan | BC | Football | UTEP |
| Clare Flood | Bakersfield Christian | Volleyball | Boston U |
| Anna Jelmini | Shafter | Track and Field | Arizona State |
| Estefania Limpias | Liberty | Tennis | CSUB |
| Will Mahan | BC (BHS) | Football | Washington |
| Brandon Miller | BC | Football | UTEP |
| Samantha Pena | Bakersfield | Soccer | CSUB |
| Devin Pruett | BC (Liberty) | Football | Hofstra |
| Colton Schmidt | Liberty | Football | UC Davis |
| Darci Smith | Liberty | Soccer | So. Carolina St |
| Patrick Su'a | Highland | Football | Fresno State |
| Alyssia Vasquez | Liberty | Soccer | Dominguez Hills |
| Quinton Woods | BC | Football | Kansas |
Images
West High football player David Born will be playing football at Sacramento State next season.
West High fooball player Jeremy Bethell gets a chuckle from mom Kimberly, and dad, Michael, as he says a few words Wednesday after signing to play football at Azusa Pacific.
Anna Jelmini
SHAFTER — Like many athletes around Kern County on Wednesday, Shafter throwing standout Anna Jelmini had silence for her big moment.
First, a deep breath. Then, pen to paper, and it was official: Jelmini is going to Arizona State.
"It was just like a sense of relief and excitement all in motion," said California's best high school girls thrower. "It was like, 'Wow, I'm actually going to do this.' It's so cool."
In front of a big crowd in the Shafter cafeteria, the defending double state champion followed through on a verbal commitment she made in December. Afterward, the room was anything but silent.
"It's really amazing how many people came out," Jelmini said. "It's truly amazing; it's great."
Jelmini broke the Central Section record with a 183-11 discus throw last season before easily winning both the discus and the shot put at the CIF State Track and Field Championships in May. She also won a national junior championship in the discus and reached the finals of the world junior championships in Poland.
"Based on what she did last year, and I've got to think we're going to see some great things this year, (Arizona State) is truly getting one of the premier prep athletes anywhere," said Shafter's throwing coach Matt Godbehere, whose wife Dawn Dumble-Godbehere was a national champion at UCLA and one of Anna's coaches growing up.
Dumble's brother, David, is the throwing coach at Arizona State.
Jelmini is going to a place where her prowess won't stick out as much. ASU won the national championship two years ago and last year finished second, garnering nearly all their points with their elite throwers.
"I'd like to win a national championship for an individual in discus and shot put," Jelmini said. "And I'd really like to make the Olympics in 2012. I know I'm still young, but if I work hard enough, I think I can get there."
Not every high school athlete can think that big, but plenty of them celebrated their high school careers and looked ahead to college on National Signing Day, the first day of the semester the NCAA allows athletes to sign binding letters of intent.
In football, Highland's Patrick Su'a signed with Fresno State in a ceremony at his school, joining Derek Carr of Bakersfield Christian, who enrolled early at FSU and did not have a ceremony Wednesday.
"I can't even explain how I feel right now," Su'a said. "Being the first in my family to go to college and seeing how proud my mom was, it was just lovely."
Su'a is the second Scot in as many years to sign with Fresno State. Anthony Johnson signed last year and then sat out a year as a grayshirt. Fresno State announced Wednesday he had enrolled in classes and would join the team this spring.
There are now eight players from Bakersfield on Fresno State's roster.
Across town, West lineman David Born had one of the more emotional signing parties in town.
Mostly, the emotion was relief: Born, a 6-foot-8, 330-pound tackle who is a multiple CalifornianAll-Area selection, found a Division I school, Sacramento State, after both Nebraska and Colorado withdrew scholarships they had offered him as an underclassman.
"It was a stressful time, but it's a real relief to know that I have a spot to compete," Born said. "I waited too long. But I wasn't ready to commit when I was a junior or a sophomore. But I'm very happy. I get my tuition paid for and a chance to play at the Division I level."
Alongside Born was Jeremy Bethell, another 300-pound lineman who had a chance at partial scholarships or walk-on opportunities at some D-I schools but instead chose Azusa Pacific.
At Liberty, five athletes signed, including kicker Colton Schmidt to UC Davis. Schmidt, an All-Area selection, was the most long-legged field-goal kicker and one of the best punters and kickoff men in town.
"I felt more comfortable at UC Davis then all the other schools," said Schmidt, who verbally committed on an official visit last week. "I want to study law, and it's up in Sacramento. It's everything I need for my future there."
Also signing at Liberty were soccer players Darci Smith, to South Carolina State, and Alyssia Vasquez, to Cal State Dominguez Hills.
"I'm proud of everyone here and everything we accomplished," said Smith, who hopes to play tennis at SCSU also.
Two other All-Area selections, Deidre Crabtree (golf) and Estefania Limpias (tennis) signed with Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Bakersfield, respectively.
"I'm excited," Limpias said. "There's going to be a lot of players who are better out there, but I'm going to have good competition, and that's what I love."
Crabtree won the Central Section individual championship last fall.
"Pretty much after Valley, we got to talking a lot," Crabtree said.
At Bakersfield High, two girls soccer players signed: Elizabeth Crowe to Columbia University and Samantha Pena to CSUB.
"Columbia has been a dream of mine forever," Crowe said.
