Tess Whittet
Sports Editor
Sixteen Costa athletes are running, diving, and fighting their way into future careers in the sports they love.
Costa students committed to a sport at a collegiate level during Costa’s third Signing day this year in the Mustang Mall on April 11. The signees were committing to 11 different sports for various colleges.
“I think signing day went well,” senior Kevin Chao. “There was a very supportive audience, and it was nice to see where other athletes at Costa were attending.”
For boys volleyball, senior Xander Vriesman signed to UC Santa Cruz and senior Aiden Weir committed to Lindenwood University. Also senior Max Cajuste signed to University of Santa Barbara. According to Cajuste, he got this far because of dedication, hard work, and passion.
“[During Signing Day, I was thinking about] conquering my goal and moving onto the next level to gain more and more experience,” Cajuste said.
Two Costa seniors signed to continue to pursue the sport of fencing. Alex Park will be fencing at Princeton University next year and Kevin Chao will be at Duke University.
“I chose Duke because when I first visited the school to meet their coaches and see their facilities, I was blown away by what the school had to offer,” Chao said. “Not only were the coaches and team welcoming, the school seemed to be a perfect blend of academics and athletics that I could see myself thrive in.”
Seniors Christopher Shirazi and Xavier Court will be continuing to compete in cross country next year. Shirazi will be attending New York University and Court will be at Cal Berkeley. According to Court, he chose Berkeley because it had a high caliber team and highly respectable academics.
“[I was able to get this far by] keeping my training consistent, diligence, support from coaches, friends, family, and sheer competitiveness,” Court said.
Two Costa swimmers will be diving into new schools at a collegiate level next year. Andrew White signed to Boston University and Jack Kittay signed to Connecticut College. According to Kittay, he only got this far because of all the support from coaches, friends, mentors, and his mother.
“Until I really started to enjoy and commit myself, I had no real desire to continue something I wasn’t that great at,” Kittay said. “It wasn’t until recent years that I felt confident enough in my ability to pursue a swimming career after high school.”
Connor Carman was the only Costa student who committed for basketball at Signing Day. Carman will be playing at Corban University. Trevor Van’t Hof was the only signee for soccer and he will be going to Lynn University.
“I love playing the game,” Van’t Hof said. “It’s something I’m good at and it’s something I want to be the best at.”
Kallie Collet committed to play at University of Redlands for lacrosse next year and Paul Matt will be attending USC trojan team for water polo. Katie Gould will be competing in softball next year at Washington University in St. Louis. Nick Romaninsky will be golfing at New Mexico State University, and James Krigsman will be wrestling at Worcester Polytech Institute in the upcoming year.
“I want to continue in college because I have been playing lacrosse since third grade, and playing in college has always been my dream.” Collet said.
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