Clarissa Played for CESA for three years under Mike Alderson and Dennis Chavarria. She was a four year varsity starter and senior captain with Earl Warren High School. She was named 1st Team All-District her sophomore, junior and senior year as well as MVP her senior year. In 2005 and 2006 , Clarissa helped lead her H.S team to two 5-A District Championships. She was awarded the Wendy's High School Heisman for Athletics, Academics and Citizenship in 2007. She was recognized as KSAT 12 Scholar Athlete of the week in March of 2008. She was a member of her District Champs Varsity Track team in 2007 and ran Varsity Cross Country in 2006 and 2007.
The phone calls, the emails, the college showcase tournaments. For a group of local soccer players, the excitement and anxiety of choosing a college came to end at National Signing Day.
The San Antonio-based Classics Elite Soccer Academy announced that seven of its senior players have signed with colleges next year.
With their college choice in parentheses and links to their signing, they are:
Katie Burden - Indiana University
Burden played four years with Churchill High School and six years with CESA. As a junior in 2007, she picked up unanimous first team all-district honors after scoring 10 goals and adding five assists. She helped her team to the Class 5A district runner-up standing and an area championship. Burden also was a unanimous first team selection in 2006 after netting 13 goals and one assist, as Churchill was a regional quarterfinalist, area champion and bi-district champion that season.
Jonie Canfield - Baylor University
Canfield has played four years at Smithson Valley High School and two years with CESA. She was a 2007 all-region selection, 2006 and 2007 first team all-district, and 2005 honorable mention all-district. A member of the National Honor Society and student council, she was named academic all-district three times. She scored 10 goals and tallied 10 assists in 2007.
Samantha Cole - University of Texas-El Paso
Cole is a four-year starter at Marshall High School for Coach Stacey Reyes and has played three years with CESA. She was named first-team all-district honoree as a sophomore and junior and helped lead the squad to the district championship in 2007. She garnered honorable-mention all-district accolades as a freshman.
Ashley Lachappelle - University of Mobile
LaChappelle has played four years with Reagan High School for Coach Frankie Whitlock and three years with CESA. Reagan reached the Class 5A regional finals last year and the semifinals in 2006. She was named second team All-District in 2007. She has competed on the Reagan track team for four years.
Lauren O'Malley - Savannah College of Art & Design
O'Malley was a four-year starter at Saint Mary's Hall for Coach Brian Kaestner and played nine years with CESA. This year, O'Malley led her SMH team to the Southwest Preparatory Conference Division II title with four goals in the semifinals and finals. She has been named to All-SPC teams for three years as well as to the All-Private Schools team by the San Antonio Express-News. She was twice named her team's most valuable player. The two-time team captain tallied 57 goals and 40 assists.
Jessie Pettit - University of Texas-El Paso
Pettit was a four-year starter for MacArthur High School for Coach Lisa Mazur and played eight years with CESA. She was a unanimous selection to Express-News Super Team each year, as well as all-district first team and TASCO region IV squad. She was named the Class 5A MVP and runner-up for Player of the Year accolades as a sophomore. The Express-News tabbed her as the Newcomer of the Year as a freshman. A track standout, she was a regional qualifier as part of the 400-meter relay team in 2007.
Danika Powers (Texas Christian University)
Powers has played four years at Churchill High School and three years with CESA. She was named to the TASCO All-State team last year and has been named All-District and All-Academic during her high school career. She has been Churchill's leading scorer as well.
Hannah Collazo (UTSA)
According to the NCAA, "the National Letter of Intent (NLI) is a binding agreement between a prospective student-athlete and an institution in which the institution agrees to provide a prospective student-athlete who is admitted to the institution and is eligible for financial aid under NCAA rules athletics aid for one academic year in exchange for the prospective student-athlete's agreement to attend the institution for one academic year. All colleges and universities that participate in the NLI program agree to not recruit a prospective student-athlete once he or she signs an NLI with another college or university. Therefore, a prospective student-athlete who signs an NLI should no longer receive recruiting contacts and calls and is ensured an athletic scholarship for one academic year. The NLI must be accompanied by an institutional financial aid agreement. If the prospective student-athlete does not enroll at that institution for a full academic year, he or she may be subject to specific penalties, including loss of a season of eligibility and a mandatory residence requirement."
The amount of scholarship is determined by the institution. Oral commitments are not binding. Student-athletes attending NAIA institutions sign athletic grant-in-aids. NCAA Division III colleges can not award athletic scholarships and do not participate in the National Letter of Intent program.
More information can be found on the following web sites: www.national-letter.org; www.ncaa.org; www.naia.org; and www.soccerbuzz.com.
Other CESA players are considering their options and their college choices will be announced in the coming months.
