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Herriman Journal

Five Mountain Ridge athletes sign to play at the next level

Nov 24, 2020 01:12PM ● By Justin Adams

Sophie White is one of five Mountain Ridge athletes to sign National Letters of Intent to play at various colleges across the country. She led the Sentinel soccer team with nine goals this year. (Justin Adams/The City Journals)

By Justin Adams | [email protected]

Five Mountain Ridge athletes signed National Letters of Intent last month, signifying a commitment to a specific collegiate athletic program. 

The five athletes included three from the Sentinels’ baseball team and one each from the volleyball and girls soccer teams. 

Sammy Perry, an outside hitter on the volleyball team, committed to play for Utah State University Eastern. Perry led all 5A volleyball players in kills this past season and helped lead the Sentinels to a 20-10 season and a first round playoff victory. 

“Sammy has been an absolute pleasure to coach the last two years and has been a rock for us both offensively and defensively,” said head coach Bryan Nicholson. “She has been our ‘go-to’ player for the past two years, and our team had so much confidence in her abilities to handle the workload.”

While USU’s campus in Price is Perry’s next step, Nicholson expects it won’t be her last. 

“For a girl like Sammy, who I think can and potentially will play D1 volleyball, it’s a great setup for her to attend a junior college, create a next level resume and showcase her talents on a bigger stage,” he said. 

From the girls soccer team, Sophie White committed to playing for the University of Florida. 

After playing exclusively for high-level club teams, White joined the Sentinel soccer team this fall for her senior year and led the team with nine goals.

“Right from the very start you could tell the quality of the player she was,” said head coach Eric Arthur. “Her competitive nature, work ethic—she refused to be beat.” 

Arthur also said, according to the principal, White is the first athlete of any sport from Mountain Ridge High to earn a scholarship to a Division I school. Despite the high level of competition, Arthur said he expects she could make an impact right away as a freshman. 

The three baseball players who signed NLI’s include Easton Brooks, Easton Negron and Kanden Kay. 

Brooks, a right-handed pitcher, committed to Dixie State University. 

“He’s one of the leaders on our team,” said head coach Brock Whitney. “He doesn’t say a lot, but he leads by example. He’s worked really hard to get where he’s at. He’s put on weight and added some velocity. He’s really made himself into a prospect.”

Negron committed to play for George Fox University, located in Oregon. Whitney describes him a “utility guy.”

“He can do pretty much anything we ask him to do, out in the field or at the plate,” Whitney said. “He’s always been able to hit. He’s athletic. Worked really hard to get where he’s at today. He has a bright future.”

Kay committed to Centralia College in Washington. 

“He’s another right-handed pitcher for us,” Whitney said. “He has a lot of potential. He just needs to continue to work on a few aspects of his game. We’re excited to see what he does in the spring for us.” 

Receiving scholarship offers is even more impressive for Mountain Ridge’s baseball players considering that their junior seasons were cut to just a few games because of COVID-19. (There are also fewer scholarships available because of extended eligibility for current collegiate athletes.) Now as they prepare for their senior season, Whitney is excited to see what they can do throughout a whole season. 

“It’s huge for our program to have this kind of recognition already,” he said. “It goes to show how hard our kids have worked, both on the field and off the field, in the class and the weight room. It hopefully sets a standard.” 




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