Newport Harbor duo set to extend athletic careers

Two Newport Harbor High athletes have announced their collegiate plans, which include picking up their athletic careers.

Field hockey and softball star Sasha Grumman said she will attend Kenyon College in Ohio.

Meanwhile, Sailors water polo player Danielle Mayer said she has signed with George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Grumman was recruited by Kenyon, an NCAA Division III school, in both softball and field hockey, but will only play field hockey in college. The Ladies went 10-7 last season and finished fourth in the North Coast Athletic Conference.

It only took one visit for Grumman to decide Kenyon was the college for her.

“Honestly, it was just because of my visit. I loved the campus, then I fell in love with the team,” Grumman said.

Grumman said she was an “A” list recruit for both sports and looks forward to playing field hockey at the next level.

“The coach said I could possibly start next year,” Grumman said.

Grumman was also recruited by Swarthmore, Johns Hopkins, Dickinson and Oberlin before deciding on Kenyon.

“It’ll be a culture shock, but I’m excited,” she said.

Grumman earned first-team All-Sunset League honors in field hockey at Newport Harbor High and helped lead the Sailors to the final of the Los Angeles Field Hockey Assn. Tournament of Champions, where they fell to Marina, 3-1.

Mayer ? who had been considering Bucknell, Furman, University of San Diego, UC Santa Barbara and Loyola Marymount ? said she was on the verge of giving up water polo until she talked with teammate Kally Lucas, who encouraged her to check out East Coast programs that were more relaxed in their approach.

“I went there and I loved it,” Mayer said. “They’re talented players, but nothing like UCLA or USC. Their focus isn’t just on water polo. They all have internships and they’re all working toward their careers.”

Mayer had seven goals, seven assists and six steals for the CIF Southern Section Division I champion in a reserve role. She had a goal and two assists against Long Beach Poly in the first round of the playoffs, and had a goal, an assist and two steals against Carlsbad at the Santa Barbara tournament.

The senior also earned an academic scholarship at George Washington, which finished seventh at the East Coast Athletic Conference championships and had a 10-15 record this season.

In other signing news, UC Irvine announced that 14 players have signed national letters of intent with the men’s soccer program.

Coach George Kuntz’s class includes two Division I transfers in goalie Kenny Schoeni and midfielder-defender Shane Westbrook. Schoeni was an All-Missouir Valley Conference honorable mention pick at Vanderbilt University last season, posting a 1.08 goals-against average. Westbrook was a two-year starter at Boston University and was an America East Conference All-Rookie Team selection as a freshman.

The list also includes three All-CIF Southern Section players in Chino High forward-midfielder Corey Attaway, midfielder Esiri Gbenedio from Riverside Poly, and midfielder-defender Gray Bailey from Huntington Beach.

Also signing were goalkeeper Pat Barton (St. Pius X, Atlanta), forward Sean Harvey (Clovis), forward-midfielder Jonathan Kurup (James Logan, Union City), forward Bjorn Lanno (Sweden), forward Joshua Meyer (Cerritos College), midfielder-defender Kevin Santora (Bellarmine Prep, San Jose), defender-midfielder Eric Shuffle (Bellarmine Prep, San Jose), midfielder Indar Smith (Skyline, Oakland) and goalkeeper Tyson Rietz (Granite Bay).