Warren athletes announce college choices

DOWNEY - Friends and family gathered at Warren High School's library to watch eight of their top athletes sign their letters of intent Monday afternoon, with four of the athletes receiving scholarships to Division I schools.Sam Bettencourt, Chris Enriquez, David Jasso, Ruben Iosefa, Nicole Kosakowski, Franny Vaaulu, Savannah Vilaubi and Deborah Won all signed their letters to the delight of the crowd and flashes of many cameras. "I can't remember the last time we had eight students go on to the NCAA for athletics and academics," said Warren principal John Harris. Bettencourt announced that he will be attending Pacific University for football in the fall. The 3-year letterman was a starting quarterback his sophomore year in former head coach Chris Benadom's run-heavy offense. While he was a secondary option in the offense, new head coach Gil Jimenez made him a primary option in his senior year where Bettencourt completed 63 percent of his passes for four touchdowns, and was the second leading rusher as an option quarterback with 318 yards on the season, averaging 3.25 yards per carry, and scored four rushing touchdowns. Enriquez will attend Queens University in North Carolina for cross country. The Bear excelled and led the always elite cross country squad for Warren, helping them win their third San Gabriel Valley League championship in four years. He also set a school record of 9:21.96 in the 3,200 meter race. Jasso signed with Whitter College for track and field. While Jasso excelled in his events, his track and field coach had nothing but admiration for the type of person Jasso is. "What a great guy," he said. "And that's what I look for in an athlete. If he's a good person." Iosefa, Bettencourt's offensive guard and defensive tackle, will also be attending Pacific University in the fall for football. In his senior year the lineman had 16 tackles and 17 assists with his best game coming against Downey where he had six tackles and six assists. Kosakowski, born into a tennis family with brother Daniel already attending UCLA on a full tennis scholarship, will attend Baylor University in the fall. The tennis star helped lead the Bears to the playoffs, but as an individual player was ranked No. 13 in California, No. 14 in the Southwest region of the country, and ranked as high as No. 46 nationally according to tennisrecruiting.net. Vaaulu, one of the most dominating female athletes to come out of Warren, is heading to Utah State for basketball. The dual-sport star was the Bears best post player on the hardwood and ace pitcher and cleanup hitter on the softball diamond. "Not only is she a phenomenal softball player, she is an excellent basketball player," said Warren basketball head coach Rachel Palmer. "She's an incredible leader for us." The ace hurler hit a torrid .457 with six home runs and 29 RBIs, while throwing a team high 132.2 innings with a 1.16 ERA. In the 132.2 innings, she also struck out 140 batters. But she excelled in basketball where she led her team to a 22-6 season, averaging 11.5 points per game, hitting 49 percent of her shots and collecting 11.7 rebounds per game. Vilaubi will be attending UC Riverside on a golf scholarship. The senior will go down as one of the best golfers Warren has ever seen. In March, she finished in third place in the Southern Californio PGA Junior Tour's Toyota Tour Cup Series at La Purisima Golf Course. Won was a 3-year varsity cheerleader and was a captain on the squad this year. She will be attending Yale University.

********** Published: June 9, 2011 - Volume 10 - Issue 8