Five Todd Beamer girls, 2 Federal Way boys commit to universities
Published 11:23 am Tuesday, December 1, 2015
The auditorium at Todd Beamer High School was packed with family, friends, classmates and school staff members as they watched five athletes sign their letters of intent on Tuesday, Nov. 24.
Bria Rice, Makenna Woodfolk and Nia Alexander will be playing basketball while Jourdin Hering and Kenzie Palmer will be playing fastpitch.
The head coaches for Beamer’s softball and girls basketball teams played the roles of coach and proud parents, as they both have daughters who signed.
“I took the job knowing that [Jourdin] was going to come here and my biggest hurdle was going to be her,” said Beamer head fastpitch coach Brian Hering. “I knew what she could do growing up because I had her all along and I knew she could play the game.
She told me when she was 10-years-old, ‘I’m gonna play [division one].’ Now she is. And it’s pretty cool.”
Jourdin Hering will be traveling the farthest away from home of the five signees as she will attend Stony Brook University in Stony Brook in New York next year. The Seawolves are members of the America East Conference and have posted winning records in softball each of the past four seasons with one NCAA Tournament appearance.
Her softball teammate, Palmer, will be staying the closest to home, as she has committed to Western Washington University. The Vikings are another successful program, posting a .500 record or better in four of the last five seasons with one NCAA Tournament appearance.
“When I got the coaching job here, I knew I was going to get a player that could do anything and work hard,” Brian Hering said of Palmer. “That’s what she did. I knew from the experience I had with her before, where she would pickup for any team and play for anybody, she would do whatever I asked of her. She was an outfielder and I asked her to play first base for me. Without her making that commitment, we probably wouldn’t have made it to state.”
Both Palmer and Jourdin Hering were also members of the Titans soccer team, which made it to the state playoffs just last month. Palmer was a four-year letter earner. Both girls will play outfield positions at their universities.
For the basketball signees, not only are they making history at the school for the largest class of girls committing to colleges, they are the first girls basketball players to commit to universities from Beamer.
All three girls were important in the Titans third-place finish in the state playoffs last year. All three players scored more than 200 points last year during the regular season.
For Beamer head girls basketball coach Corey Alexander, the moment was special as he had the opportunity to praise all of them, including his daughter Nia Alexander.
“Coaching your daughter is something special,” Corey Alexander said. “I’ve been coaching and training Nia since the sixth grade and, as far as I know, she’s been enjoying it. She’s never said otherwise. She’s put in a lot of work to get where she’s at today.”
Nia Alexander will head to the University of San Fransisco. The Lady Dons are members of the West Coast Conference and have been turning their team around in recent years. Her mother was a division one player at the University of Washington.
Makenna Woodfolk will be traveling almost as far from home as Jourdin Hering as she will be headed to the University of Hawaii at Manoa. The Rainbow Wahine are members of the Big West Conference and have competed in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament the past three seasons.
“Makenna has only been with us for two years, but she is phenomenal,” Corey Alexander said. “You would think that she has been playing with these girls for forever. She’s hardworking. The University of Hawaii is going to get a tremendous player. I can’t say enough good things about Makenna.”
“Bria is a coach’s dream to have,” he said. “We always have conversations on the sideline and she always tells me what she sees in the game and it’s easy to work with her as a guard. She’s going to be an outstanding defender and playmaker at the University of Colorado.
I’m looking forward to watching these girls play at the next level. I really appreciate the hard work [they’ve] put in and the leadership [they’ve] provided to the younger players. We’ve got big things this year. What we’re going to do is win state this year.”
Bria Rice is headed to the University of Colorado Boulder. The Buffaloes participated in the women’s NIT in 2013, making it to the third round.
The final speaker of the night was Joni Hall, the Building Principal at Todd Beamer.
“I am so proud of what strong, young women you are,” Hall said. “You’re going to go out and take the world by storm. They are roll models for their peers and they are student-athletes with the student coming first. They go out there and show what it means to work hard.”
The girls basketball team will begin their season against Bellevue on Thursday.
Federal Way athletes commit
Beamer was not the only school in Federal Way to join in on the commitment party. The Federal Way Eagles had two of their own sign letters of intent during the early signing period.
Christian Jones signed to play baseball for the University of Washington. Jones had a .346 batting average and 20 RBIs for Federal Way last season. He was a first-team all-South Puget Sound League Northwest selection last year.
Jalen McDaniels was an important piece of the Eagles championship basketball team last season and will head to San Diego State University next fall. He averaged double-digit points per game last season and was a team leader in rebounds. He will be an important part of the Eagles team this season as they look to repeat as state champions.
