By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
AMITY,Ore. — It’s rare to see four athletes from the school of Amity’s size to have committed and signed all to the College Level in the same school year.
Cordell Prevett (Football), Kiyan Vrell (Track and Field), Ashlyn Felty (Dance and Cheer) and Con Coelho (Basketball) all signed their Letters of Intent on Tuesday afternoon at Amity High School to play their respective sports at nearby Linfield University.
Prevett, a First Team All-League selection as an offensive lineman, will be joining a Wildcat program that went 10-2 this past Fall and reached the second round of the NCAA Division-III National Tournament before falling to Mary-Hardin Baylor 28-18. Going from one rich football, tradition school to another.
“It’s really nice to show up at the home games and win, lose, or draw. You got the whole community behind you. It’s really nice to have that support from the community the whole time,” said Prevett of the Amity community. “It’s going to be a lot of working out (this summer), following some pretty strict workout programs and just mentally preparing myself for a faster, tougher, and stronger game.
Felty has been putting in the work to get to the collegiate level by going into the studio six days a week to make sure her technique and footwork are set in stone for what she needs to do when it comes to performance time. It’s those relationships from those long days, and the hard practices make this moment sweeter for Felty as she continues her Dance and Cheer career.
“Their help is really crucial in that,” said Felty of her coaches and teammates. “Just the relationships that make it fun and make those long hours and late nights in the studio really worth it. At times, it’s hard… but having those relationships makes it really worth it,”
“It’s going to be a change of pace for sure, I’m going to get used to toning it down a little bit. I think working on managing my time well will help me in the long run.”
Coelho, who came over from nearby Perrydale entering his junior year of High School, credits the tough competition in the Casco League and the PacWest Conference in his development going into his freshman year at Linfield University.
“It helped me grow as a player, as an individual, and my work ethic a lot. It made me want to get better,” said Coelho.
Vrell is days removed from successfully defending his Javelin State Title at Hayward Field. Capping his career with three trips to the podium in the Javelin at the State meet level to go with a seventh-place finish in the Long Jump as a junior to close out his High School prep career.
Something that he hopes to build from going into this Summer and into his first year at Linfield as he works to the goal of cracking 200 foot with the Javelin.
“Just putting in the work…form and technique. Just buy-in and trust everything that the coaches have for me,” starts Vrell. “Competing at college has been a dream of mine since after freshman year, the Summer after freshman year. And now, accomplishing that big dream that I have, it feels great.”
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
