It’s an understatement to say that the dais at Prairie View High School was a busy place on May 13.
A school-record 18 Prairie View High School students signed letters of intent to move into the world of college athletics.
“We preach to our athletes to do the right things the right way,” said PVHS Athletic Director Jason Humphrey. “We have a ton of kids who have done just that.”
Here is a breakdown of all the signees moving on.
Jerry Stone – Colorado Northwestern Community College
Stone, who was a four-year baseball starter for the ThunderHawks, is moving on to Colorado Northwestern Community College in Rangely.
He compiled a .403 career batting average and drove in 101 runs. He also won 18 of 23 decisions and recorded 245 strikeouts in his four years at Prairie View.
Fabian Gaeta Acosta – Colorado Northwestern Community College
Acosta, who also started all four years for Prairie View baseball, is joining Stone at Colorado Northwestern Community College.
His high-school career batting average is a lofty .407, which included 121 hits and 84 RBIs. He also pitched for the ThunderHawks. He won 24 of 30 decisions and had a 2.12 earned-run average. He struck out 270 batters and allowed just 55 earned runs.
Romani Perez – Morningside University
Perez, another four-year baseball starter at Prairie View, signed with Morningside University in Sioux City, Iowa.
His career batting average stands at .351; he just picked up his 100th career hit last week. He drove in 84 runs and had a batting average of .351. He struck out 78 batters in 59 ⅔ innings and registered five saves.
Giovanni Tarin Trillo – York University
More on the diamond: Tarin, a four-year letter-winner at Prairie View, takes his baseball skills to York University in Toronto, New York.
He played centerfield for the ThunderHawks and batted .318 in his career. He pounded out 94 hits, scored 93 runs and stole 34 bases. His coach, Mark Gonzales, said Trillo batted .600 in the state baseball tournament a season ago. The ThunderHawks advanced to the final four for the first time in school history.
Noah Hernandez – York University
Hernandez, another four-year starter at Prairie View, joins Trillo on the baseball field at York University. His on-base percentage this year was .433.
He scored 62 runs and had a fielding percentage of .935. In four years, he committed just 15 errors. Hernandez is batting .299 this year with 20 hits and nine RBIs.
Chidiebere Okotaobi – Springfield Tech
On the basketball court, Okotaobi is heading for Springfield, Massachusetts, Technical Community College. He finished among the top rebounders in the state, according to MaxPreps, averaging almost 8.5 caroms per game.
He also averaged a blocked shot per game, which put him 11th in the state. Akotaobi was chosen to participate in the Class 5A/6A Rocky Mountain all-star game this spring.
The ThunderHawks finished 12-11, 6-6 in conference play.
Joel Peralta Martinez – York University
Martinez is the third member of the ThunderHawks baseball team to head for York University.
In 20 contests, he’s batting .250. Three of his 10 hits are for extra bases, and he’s swiped seven bases. His fielding percentage is .979.
Preston Miller – Iowa Lakes Community College
Miller played just one baseball season at Prairie View High School. He signed with Iowa Lakes Community College in Estherville, Iowa.
His fielding percentage is .982 through 23 games. He has nine stolen bases en route to a .339 batting average. Seven of his 21 hits are for extra bases, including two home runs.
Peyton Trujillo – University of Northern Colorado
Trujillo, who is heading to the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley for cheer, also earned athletic letters in softball and track.
As a freshman, she earned her first letter and led PVHS to a ninth-place finish in the state meet.
Wyatt Hunter – Colorado Mesa University
Hunter chose Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction to continue playing football. He averaged more than three “pancake blocks” per game this season.
In six games, he recorded 25 tackles, 13 of which were solo efforts, two sacks and recovered a fumble. Gonzales, the school’s football and baseball coach, said Hunter had several NCAA Division II offers before signing with the Mavericks.
Ryker Searle – Kansas Wesleyan University
Seare, who chose Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina, Kansas, to play football, completed 59 percent of his passes for an average of 203 yards per game in four games, according to stats from MaxPreps.
Eight of his 56 completions went for touchdowns. He also gained 37 yards on the ground and scored a rushing touchdown.
Ethan Lehnig – Tabor College
Lehning, a wide receiver on the ThunderHawks’ football team this season, found Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kansas, to his liking.
He caught seven passes for 90 yards, according to four games’ worth of stats available on MaxPreps. His longest reception was for 34 yards. His all-purpose yardage was fourth-best on the team.
Benjamin Hopper – Knox College
Hopper, a tackle and linebacker for the ThunderHawks, signed on with Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois.
In nine games, he totaled 53 tackles (34 of those were solo efforts) for an average of just less than six tackles per game. He recorded a team-high 10.5 sacks and recovered a pair of fumbles.
Iasiah Liptac – Knox College
Liptak, who played linebacker for Prairie View on the football team, joins Hopper at Knox College.
In five games, he registered two sacks and 48 total tackles. Seven of those stops resulted in lost yardage. Prairie View won twice in nine starts this season.
Francis Ojowa – Colorado State University
Ojowa, who qualified for two events at this year’s state track-and-field meet, signed on to compete at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. He finished third in the 300-meter hurdles at the state meet last year.
He played football for Prairie View before giving it up to focus solely on track and field. His top time this year in the 300-meter hurdles is 37.36 seconds, tops among the qualifiers at state. He also turned in a time of 14.67 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles.
Delilah Gallegos – John Carroll University
Gallegos, who joined Prairie View’s girls wrestling program as it was starting, opted to compete and study at John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio.
She was an all-conference recipient, a state tournament qualifier and a team captain during her career at Prairie View. She won 86 matches in her career.
Michelle Ramirez – Iowa Lakes Community College
Ramirez is heading to Estherville, Iowa, to continue her studies and her wrestling at Iowa Lakes Community College.
When she joined the ThunderHawks’ program, she had some experience in jiu-jitsu but none in wrestling. Along the way, she earned all-conference honors, qualified for the state meet, was a team captain and earned 65 victories.
Jaydon Vigil – Northeastern Junior College
Vigil is heading to Sterling to study and wrestle at Northeastern Junior College. He won two varsity letters with the ThunderHawks.
He missed a third letter by one victory. Wrestlers have to earn 15 wins during this season to qualify. He had a half-season of experience when he went to high school.
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