LOCAL
June 23, 2022
SPORTS
Brighton Standard Blade 13
PVHS’ Padilla picks community college ThunderHawks quarterback picks California school BY STEVE SMITH SSMITH@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
It was a fairly simple choice of colleges for Prairie View High School graduate and football player Eliah Padilla. “I chose Feather River (Community College in Quincy, California, about 80 miles northwest of Reno, Nevada) over other schools because it felt like my home away from home,” he said. Padilla didn’t get an on-site visit to the campus. But head football coach Nick Goulet “made sure to give me multiple virtual tours.” “But it didn’t play too much of a factor because it is still in California,” Padilla said. Padilla played quarterback in seven of the ThunderHawks’ games last season. He completed 13 of 23 passes for 280 yards and five touchdowns. He ran the ball 22 times for 149 yards and scored two touchdowns, and Padilla caught 10 passes for 173 yards and scored a TD. “I had multiple other schools interested in me,” Padilla said. “But,
like I said, coach Goulet wanted me to be an Eagle and never gave up on getting me to be one. So, that’s what got me.” Distance from home was a small factor. “Distance always plays a huge part no matter what you’re doing or going,” Padilla said. “But yes, it plays a big part. It definitely made the choice hard, although I still get to do what I love in a beautiful state.” Padilla wants to major in business. His goal is to get a journeyman’s license and open up an electrical company. “The pandemic impacted a lot of things,” he said. “I lost a year of eligibility my junior year after coming off and hot sophomore year. I couldn’t play a down of varsity junior year. The recruiting process was impacted because the coaches couldn’t recruit the way they would’ve liked to recruit, like camps, home visits, school visits, etc.” Come what may, Padilla is anxious to move on. “I’m ready to get this show on the road and start this football season,” Padilla said. “Definitely has been a crazy journey. I just want to thank everyone who has pushed me through it all.”
Prairie View High School graduate Eliah Padilla is heading for northern California to FILE PHOTO continue playing football.
Local athletes adjust to the balance of school, athletics BY BY STEVE SMITH SSMITH@COLORADOCOMMUITYNEWSPAPERS.COM
This is part three, the final part of a three-story series. The first part introduced the athletes and the second discussed academic support at their chosen schools. We’ve spent the last couple of weeks with former high-school athletes as they talk about their adjustments to college athletics - everything from more intense practice routines to being responsible for their clean clothes. To wrap up our series, the newly minted college athletes talk about how to balance their athletic life with their new freedoms and the purpose of going to college in the first place - their education. Most think they made a good choice. That delicate balance Vershon Brooks went from Brighton High School to college football at Luther College in Iowa. “Balancing life with academics and athletics in college was tricky at first,” he said. “You have to look at your schedule and plan ahead of when you’ll get things, like eating, laundry, cleaning and homework, done. You’ll find a routine around your classes and training with the team. It just becomes second nature.” Former Brighton and Frederick
High School pitcher Chase Prestwich, who’s playing collegiately at Northwestern State University in Louisiana, said a lot of people don’t think about that balance of life, academics and athletics. “But it’s really hard,” he said. “I have to really plan out my days and just squeeze in time for things like eating, doing laundry, etc. I have to take advantage of every bit of free time I get because I don’t get much.” In the case of Izayah Elize, former Frederick High School basketball player and now a collegiate player at Eastern Wyoming College in Torrington, Wyoming, it was “hard and scary being by yourself.” “But once you get in a routine and schedule you realize it’s not that hard,” he said. His high-school classmate, Ryan Chacon, who is running cross country at Butler Community College in Kansas, agreed. “Balancing daily chores and things is difficult,” he said. “But if you make a schedule every week and stick to it, you’ll be fine. Either a team study time will be put into play or making a time to do things.” Emma Kulbida, who attended Stargate School, swam for Legacy High School and is swimming at Carnegie Mellon in Pennsylvania, said balancing her academic, athletic and other needs was difficult. “Managing the rigorous course loads that CMU has to offer is
extremely challenging by itself and competing at a high athletic level on top of that makes it so much harder,” she said. “However, having set practice times forces you to keep somewhat of a schedule, and being a high-level athlete makes you prioritize sleep and nutrition, which helps with school as well.” Brighton High School’s Eli Bowman, who played football at the South Dakota School of Mines, said balancing all of necessary things in school was tough - on occasion. “But it’s something I’ve gotten used to,” he said. “Whether it’s when to do laundry or managing my relationship with my girlfriend, it all took some adjusting and figuring out what works best for me, my schedule and my health. Ultimately, school has to be my No. 1 priority, and I understand that.” Bowman’s classmate, Jespyn Bishop, who is playing water polo at McKendree University in Lebanon, Illinois, split the difference. “I wouldn’t say it has been too difficult, but it hasn’t been easy,” he said. “It honestly all depends on the classes you take. My first semester, none of my classes was extremely hard, but I just had a lot of work. So I ended up scheduling my week to where I could get everything done and still be able to go to bed early enough to be able to get up and go to morning practices. I also have a work study on campus at the library,
which I am able to work while being able to do homework. So normally I get a lot of my homework done then.” Bishop said he tried to plan for other needs a few days ahead of time “which helps me with not having any conflicts.” His second semester was an off-season for water polo. “I get done with all my classes at 12, and then I have practice TuesdayThursdays from 1-3, then weights from 4-5 Tuesdays and Thursdays,” he said. “After that the rest of the day is mine. I normally try to get all my homework done by 10 and then leave two hours to do whatever I want. I normally leave store runs to the weekends because it’s easier to get everything all at once.”
Adding structure Erica Derby, who took her soccer skills from Stargate School to Northeastern Community College in Nebraska, said it hasn’t been hard to balance her daily tasks. “Playing soccer adds structure to my day. I have to be at practice and the games. So all my classes and tasks I do revolve around that,” she said. “If my classes conflict with soccer, I either can take it fully online or come up with a solution with my coach.” SEE ADJUSTMENT, P15
