Nine seniors sign their national letter of intent

Luke Noameshie –

By Ryan Kelly

Senior Luke Noameshie is kicking his way into a new chapter after he recently signed to the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs.

Noameshie has been playing soccer for almost his entire life, from club teams to select teams he has been a part of it all.

“I’ve been playing since before I can remember and probably started around like four or five,” Noameshie said. “Now I’ve just been playing club and select ever since then.”

After his early days of playing soccer for club and select teams in the Omaha Metro, Noameshie went on to play for the Westside soccer team.

“Once I got to middle school and freshman year I decided I wanted to play in college,” Noameshie said. “When we started my recruiting process, which was pretty bumpy.”

Once the recruiting process started it was a bumpy road but Noameshie took charge and went to many different recruiting events to put his name out there.

“My team goes to three recruiting events a year. Therefore you just have three chances to show a coach you are worthy for their team,” Noameshie said. “That is if they go to your game, open your emails and watch your film, and after that they probably have their mind made up before they even see you play.”

After a full year Noameshie finally got into contact with collegiate level coaches.

“I talked to a lot of coaches and finally, this year, my club coach had some connections and he put me on with the Colorado Springs coach,” Nomeshie said. “They liked me when I went to visit and so they offered me and yeah, committed pretty much two days later.”

After completing the college recruiting process he is very happy to not worry about the decision process.

“ I’m excited to just get it all passed, and to get the thing all finally down, you know, don’t have to worry about it anymore,” Noamshie said.

With one final high school season Noameshie is very excited for his final season and hopes to make an appearance in the state tournament.

“I’m excited to see who we have. I know we’re gonna have a pretty good team this year,” Noamshie said. “I’m excited to lead our team to hopefully another state tournament appearance.”

Isabella Lamb –

By Sabina Rasulova

Senior Isabella Lamb committed to Bemidji State to continue her volleyball career being a middle blocker. She ended her season with a third place finish at state. She explained why she committed to Bemidji State.

“I committed there because the team is very welcoming,” Lamb said. “The campus is beautiful and everyone was really nice there and it was in a really cute town.”

Head varsity coach Andrew Wehrli coached his first season at Westside and it led to finishing third at state. Wehrli coached at the college level before and then coached highschool before coming to Westside. He shared how he could see Lamb as a leader.

“Isabella was an incredibly important part of our team,” Wehrli said. “She was one of our competitive leaders who helped us manage energy, she did a great job including our younger players.”

Lamb played all her four years for Westside volleyball and explained what she will miss the most about the team.

“I will miss the team because we grew up together,” Lamb said. “We grew so much together and i wanted to thank my family and my friends for supporting me”

Westside had a successful volleyball season. Coach Wehrli shared what improvement he saw from Lamb as the season went on and his proudest moment from this season.

“Isabella improved as a blocker and as a leader, we would not have accomplished what we did this season without her presence and play on the court,” Wehrli said. “I was proud of how our team rose to the challenge after we lost our setter Peyton, all of our seniors stepped up, we had to rearrange how we played the game, we started talking about playing gritty vs. pretty. We found new ways to win points and each of our seniors contributed.”

Natalie Harris-

By Kara Stricklin

Natalie Harris has committed to the University of Northern Iowa. The senior has had an impressive high school career.

Harris is a top freestyle swimmer in the state for the 100, 200, and 500 freestyle. She also placed fourth in the 200 and 500 freestyle at the state meet last year.

Swimming in college has always been a goal for Harris, and starting the recruitment process early led her to finding her home with ease.

“I knew I was gonna swim, and I knew that you can start the process pretty early,” said Harris. “I just liked the college and everything that they had, so I decided to commit and not wait any longer.”

Harris’s love for swimming began at a young age, and this love and passion is what pushed her to continue to swim in college.

“I’ve been swimming for my whole life,” said Harris. “I thought that it was perfect to continue at UNI.”

The recruitment process wasn’t that stressful for Harris. She knew she’d be committing to the school that was a perfect fit for her.

“There are a lot of good things about it,” said Harris. “The coaches are very nice and the program is very promising, and specifically for my major it’s perfect academically too.”

With Harris committing early all of her focus is on having a successful senior campaign.

Jackson Benge –

By Lucy Pocras

Senior Jackson Benge has committed to go play golf at the University of Nebraska. Benge is very excited to go play golf in college and has a bright future ahead of him.

“I am super excited to get down there and make an impact right away.” Benge said. “All of the guys on the team made me feel like a part of the team right away and I can’t wait to be in that culture.”

Even though Benge is very excited about going to play golf for the Huskers, there are many things he is going to miss about being a Westside warrior.

“I’m going to miss my teammates and all of the support from the school and the community,” Benge said. “It has been an amazing school and such a special part of my life.”

There have been many people who have made it possible for Benge to make it to where he is today including his parents and his coach Ryan Vermeer.

“My parents have been huge supporters in my career. They have taken me all across the country to tournaments and I can’t thank them enough. Also my coach Ryan Vermeer for getting my game to the next level and creating the opportunity for me.” Benge said.

Even though Benge is committed to UNL, he still has one last season with his teammates at Westside.

“I am excited to make a run at back to back state titles,” Benge said. “We have some new faces this year and I am excited to get to know them and have some fun.”

Ava Johnson –

By Zachary Kastrick

Westside Diver Ava Johnson has signed her letter of intent to University of Nebraska Omaha. The Senior has had quite a career diving for the Warriors, after making state the last two years. Johnson is relatively new to the sport, but that hasn’t stopped her from putting together a great career.

“I originally started diving early freshman year with Peter Charles at Airborn Academy and I pretty much fell in love with the sport. I was doing track and diving at the time,” Johnson said. “I decided to commit to UNO, because I went on an official visit and I just really enjoyed their facility. Eric Sprong is a great coach, so I’m excited to start working with him.”

Johnson still has one more season this year with the Warriors, where she will look to place in state this year. Her three seasons have put together some great memories and a lot to miss when she heads to UNO.

“I’m really gonna miss Pete and my other coach Katie, they have been my high school coaches here since freshman year,” Johnson said.

Tatum Godinez –

By Kaya Duley

After four years as a Warrior, Tatum Godinez is ready to make the next step. Godinez has officially signed to be a cougar at University of Sioux Falls.

“ I’m going to Sioux falls to play volleyball and track too. I picked there because they were allowing me to do both sports,” Godinez said.

Not having to pick what sport you want to continue can take a lot of stress off your shoulders and luckily Godinez will not have to pick.

“ I loved the team dynamic and I felt right at home when I got there,” Godinez said.

Moving away is always hard and having a welcoming environment is always helpful getting used to being away from all your friends and family.

“ What I’ll miss most about westside is my friends that would come to my games and support me,” Godinez said.

Having people supporting you in the crowd always helps play better. Godinez will continue to play volleyball at the next level at the University of Sioux Falls.

Stella Miner –

By Kaya Duley

Senior Stella Miner is ready to take the next step. Miner has officially signed to be a Wildcat at Kansas State and will start next fall.

“I fell in love with the school because of the cross country team,” Miner said.

Loving the school you are moving away to can make it a lot easier to move away from home and lucky Miner has lots of family to support her down her new path.

“I’ll miss her jokes, and her projects. She always has a cool art project we can work on together. Bleaching jeans, beaded flowers, starting a shop, painting, and more,” freshman Jacqueline Miner said.

In Miner’s senior year, she placed second at state.

“ I was very proud of how we performed at state,” she said.