Locals secure future
As a coxswain, Ethan Ruiz’s job is to steer the boat. He’s pretty good at it, having guided the U.S. men’s eight to a silver medal at the World Rowing Junior Championships in Brazil last summer.
Ruiz made another decision on Wednesday, this one affected his path in college. The Newport Harbor High student signed a national letter of intent with the University of Washington men’s crew program, making him one of several local seniors recognized on signing day.
Of the local athletes, five are competing in crew on the next level. Newport Harbor’s Marley Avritt is joining Ruiz at the University of Washington, while Corona del Mar’s Shannon Nelson is bound for UCLA, Reid Rolfes to UC Berkeley and Madison Kernan to Northeastern University.
Corona del Mar had 15 athletes, the most in the area, commit to colleges. Matt Ctvrtlik, who led the Sea Kings to the CIF Southern Section finals in boys’ basketball and volleyball as a junior, chose to continue his volleyball career at Harvard.
“I really enjoyed my official visit last September and the city of Boston is extremely fun because of all the things to do there,” said Ctvrtlik, who as a junior earned All-CIF Southern Section Division 1 honors in volleyball and All-CIF Southern Section Division 3A honors in basketball. “There are a ton of schools in the Cambridge area, which makes the atmosphere [livelier]. In terms of the volleyball team, the guys are relatable and determined on and off the court, in both volleyball and academics.”
Ctvrtlik is one of five CdM seniors heading to Ivy League schools. The others are Jason Simaan (Brown men’s lacrosse), Kat Hess (Harvard women’s soccer), Shane Gooding (Princeton men’s volleyball) and Jessie Harris (Princeton women’s volleyball).
Harris, a member of the All-CIF Southern Section Division 1AA and All-Orange County first team, tried to convince Ctvrtlik to join her at Princeton.
“I was pushing him hard to go there,” said Harris, the Daily Pilot Newport-Mesa Dream Team Player of the Year in girls’ volleyball. “While I was on my unofficial [visit] I was hanging out with the [Princeton men’s] and [women’s] volleyball teams and the boys told me he was one of their top recruits, so I called him while I was with the boys.
“Too bad he decided to go to the second best school in the Ivy League. [I’m] totally kidding, but [yeah], I was bummed when he didn’t choose Princeton, but I couldn’t be more excited to have Shane Gooding there with me [at Princeton].”
The rest of the Sea Kings committing were Connor Deverian (UCLA men’s track and field), Brendan Hack (USC men’s water polo), Bjorn Hoffman (UC Berkeley men’s tennis), Siena Sharf (Loyola Marymount women’s tennis), Andres White (Johns Hopkins men’s water polo), Jacqueline Choe (Claremont McKenna College women’s cross-country) and Kelly Tam (San Diego Christian College women’s basketball).
Newport Harbor’s signees included Remy Wilson (UCLA women’s beach volleyball), Emily Bacon (Oregon State women’s cross country and track and field), Emma Kratzberg (Colorado State women’s track and field), Ryan Taylor (Pepperdine men’s water polo), Jennifer Kingsley (Sonoma State women’s tennis), Kate Hefner (Columbia women’s volleyball), Emily Gess (Carroll College women’s soccer), Rachel Hellinger (Cal State Dominguez Hills women’s volleyball), Jerome Higman (Chapman men’s lacrosse), Amanda Walker (Claremont Mudd Scripps women’s volleyball), Maddy Kanzler (Chapman women’s water polo) and Braden Postil (Whittier College men’s swimming).
Mater Dei had four Newport Beach residents sign, half of them for men’s water polo. Thomas Dunstan is going to USC and William Lapkin to St. Francis College. Nick Bauer is heading to play for the Princeton men’s lacrosse team, while Marina LaPuzza is bound for Cal State Los Angeles to compete for its women’s basketball team.
Sage Hill’s signees were Kurisa Suhr (Pepperdine women’s track and field), Lina Aluzri (Claremont McKenna women’s volleyball) and Coltrane Tait (New York University baseball).
Costa Mesa Athletic Director Sharon Uhl said Costa Mesa plans to have a signing day ceremony on Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. to honor five seniors. Uhl said Kevin LeCours is heading to Air Force (men’s swimming and diving), Ivan Shikhelman to Chapman (men’s water polo), Paige LaBare to Biola University (women’s track and field), Grady Conner to Vanguard (baseball) and James Barton to Providence Christian College (baseball).
