Miguel A. Melendez, Staff Writer
November 13, 2008

Nine area athletes put the recruiting process to bed by taking part in the early period of signing national letters of intent on Wednesday. Some held special ceremonies in front of coaches, fans and family members as the cameras flashed, while others simply just signed.

Regardless, the day was special because it not only meant the recruiting process was over, but also that they’d just signed to play for the school of their dreams.

Pasadena High School’s Joe Henson signed with San Jose State. The 6-foot-8, 240 pound forward averaged 10 points and eight rebounds in the second half of the season after sitting out the early part because of hip surgery. “The recruiting process was good,” Henson said. “But I chose San Jose State because I really liked the coaches and the conference.” Henson will lead a Bulldogs team that finished 22-8 overall and 7-1 in Pacific League play.

La Cañada shortstop Eric Smith signed to play at Stanford. The senior batted .625 with an on-base percentage of .724, scored 30 runs, had 18 RBIs and committed only one error last season for the Spartans.

Pasadena Poly’s Felicitas Lenz (diving) and Andrew Saeta (swimming) will attend Northwestern and Stanford, respectively.

Arcadia’s Morgan Barchan was recruited to play softball at North Carolina State but the outfielder instead decided on Southern Illinois because her cousin, Haley Gorman, plays softball there, too. Barchan batted .481 with four home runs and 20 steals last season for the Apaches.

Muir’s girls basketball team will hope to continue its dominance after a 28-3 regular-season record and a perfect 11-0 season in Pacific League play last year. The Mustangs will be led by 6-foot center Brittany Henderson, who signed with Kentucky, and Eliza Pierre who signed with California. “I really liked the family atmosphere,” said Henderson who also was recruited by UC Santa Barbara, Providence, Morgan State and Houston. Pierre, who visited UCLA and Arizona before deciding on the Golden Bears, said it was a good fit for her at Cal and would compete for a starting spot.

Mayfield’s Susan Carlson is playing in her final season with the Cubs and hopes to get past Magnolia in today’s second round of the volleyball playoffs.

Carlson, who has 203 kills, 33 aces, and 130 digs, will continue to play volleyball at Georgia Tech next season.

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