Students cheered and watched in awe as three senior student athletes signed their letters of intent on March 31. Seniors Raven Bierlein, Sahana Bojorquez, and Michaela Hood all officially committed to college teams in front of both lunches — fullfilling the dream of many student athletes to sign on and play sports after high school.

“This was the first year scholar athletes were recognized in front of everyone for their hard work,” said Principal Tam Larnerd.

“This was definitely a good example to show the underclassmen that this ceremony could be them in the future,” he said.

Bierlein, a pitcher and a first baseman for the softball team committed to Salt Lake Community College. Bierlein played for varsity all four years of her high school career, hopes to take home some hardware this season. In Bierlein’s junior year she held a .377 batting average with 12 runs batted in and 3 home runs. Bierlein recorded a run average of 2.52 in 64 innings pitched and struck out 48 batters.

“When I received my scholarship I felt good and to get recognized by my school is really cool,” said Bierlein of the ceremony.

Hood, another pitcher for the softball team, committed to the University of Montana this past summer. Her scholarship is a full-ride for all four years. Hood is credited for her role as a double-threat in both pitching and hitting, and is often recognized for pitching a perfect game against the Bonanza Bengals in her junior year. To pitch a perfect game, the team cannot have any player reach base safely during the entire game.

“I feel like all my hard work is finally paying off,” said Hood of her scholarship. “I wanted to go somewhere cold and I wanted to remain a Grizzly.”

Soccer player Sahana Bojorquez committed to California State University, Monterey Bay. Bojorquez played varsity soccer for four years at Spring Valley and was a team captain for three of those years. This year Sahana scored 5 goals and had 14 assists. She was also an all state, all region, and all division player. As one of the team captains, Bojorquez was also key to taking the Grizzlies to state this year – a first in the team’s history.

“To have these athletes sign to the college they really chose shows how hard they work,” Said Athletic Director William Hemberger of this event.

“Our coaches play a role in making them the players they are and our teaches make them the students that they are.”