Albert Lea student-athletes sign national letters of intent together

A group of five Albert Lea seniors signed their national letters of intent to continue their athletic careers at the collegiate level. The following is a Q&A with each signee:

 

Alex Syverson

School: University of St. Thomas (St. Paul)

Major: Economics

Sport: Golf

Stat: 24th place with a score of 152 at the Class AA state golf tournament last spring at Ridges at Sand Creek in Jordan

Q: Who was the coach who talked to you, and what did he tell you about the university?

A: Scott Proshek. He told us about his program and how they’re ranked third in the nation in Division III. He let me know what it takes to get into the school and what it has to offer for my major and internships.

Q: How many official and unofficial visits did you make?

A: No official visits. I made three unofficial: Eastern Illinois University, Occidental College in Los Angeles and I had plans to visit Virginia Wesleyan in Norfolk, Virginia, but I figured it out before that.

Q: What was the campus like?

A: The campus is nice and the perfect size for me. It’s in a great spot for what I want to do.

Q: What stood out to you about the school?

A: Illinois was seven hours in the car. Four hours in a plane for California, and I don’t know about Virginia, but (at St. Thomas) I can always come home and see my parents, which is nice.

Q: What was the recruiting process like?

A: It’s fun, but it’s long. I think it helps with communication skills. There’s a lot of emailing and texting and time on the phone.

Q: How excited are you to begin the next chapter of your athletic career?

A: So excited. I get to play in the spring and graduate. It’s great to sign with these kids. I’ve known them forever. It was really fun that we all got to come together and do it.

 

Lindsey Horejsi

School: University of Minnesota (Twin Cities)

Major: Kinesiology or Biology

Sport: Women’s swimming

Event: Breaststroke

Stat: All-Class state record holder in the 200-yard individual medley (1:59.77) and 100 breaststroke (59.56) last fall at the Class A state meet

Q: Who was the coach who talked to you, and what did he tell you about the university?

A: Coach Kelly (Kremer). He’s the main coach I talked to, and he’s the head coach of the men’s and women’s team. My women’s coach is Terry (Ganley). Talking to Terry, I connected with her right away. She’s like my mom. I knew that Minnesota was going to be the right place.

Q: How many official and unofficial visits did you make?

A: I took two official visits: Tennessee and Minnesota. Then I canceled my (University of Southern California) trip.

Q: What was the campus like?

A: The campus is beautiful.

Q: What stood out to you about the school?

A: I love Minnesota. The main disadvantage of Tennessee was that it was still too hot when I was there. I like the seasons in Minnesota.

Q: What was the recruiting process like?

A: It was actually pretty mellow. I made my decision faster than I expected, but it wasn’t too stressful.

Q: How excited are you to begin the next chapter of your athletic career?

A: I’m really excited, but it’s going to be sad leaving my coaches and the people who I’ve swam with forever. But it’ll be fun creating a new experience and taking it to the next level.

 

Anna Andersen

School: University of North Dakota (Grand Forks)

Major: Nursing

Sport: Women’s swimming

Event: Freestyle

Stat: State champion in the 50-yard freestyle (23.65) last fall at the Class A state meet

Q: Who was the coach who talked to you, and what did he tell you about the university?

A: The head coach there is Chris Maiello. He focuses on athleticism, not just on swimming. They want to make sure that you’re overall fit, and I liked that about them. They emphasize having fun and quality over quantity.

Q: How many official and unofficial visits did you make?

A: I took two unofficial and then one official visit to Illinois State. I also had another official visit to Northern Arizona scheduled, but after going to UND, I thought, ‘This is it. This is home.’

Q: What was the campus like?

A: The campus is nice. A lot of it is new, and it’s pretty small, which I also liked. It was kind of like home there. Not too big.

Q: What was the recruiting process like?

A: It’s really hard, and it’s hard to tell where to start. I just waited until the coaches came to me, and then I played my cards from there.

Q: How excited are you to begin the next chapter of your athletic career?

A: I’m ready to go.

 

Parker Mullenbach

School: Bethel University (St. Paul)

Major: Mechanical Engineering

Sport: Baseball

Position: Infield

Stat: First Team All-Area selection with 32 hits and 24 RBIs last spring

Q: Who was the coach who talked to you, and what did he tell you about the university?

A: Coach (Brian) Raabe. He’s a great coach. He’s played in the majors, He knows all about the game.

Editor’s note: Raabe played under managers Tom Kelly for the Minnesota Twins, Joe Torre for the New York Yankees, Lou Piniella for the Seattle Mariners and Don Baylor for the Colorado Rockies.

Q: How many official and unofficial visits did you make?

A: I took around five visits. I went to Hamline, Augsburg, Wartburg, St. John’s and Northwestern.

Q: What was the campus like?

A: I love the campus. It just felt like part of the city.

Q: What stood out to you about the school?

A: The program they offered.

Q: What was the recruiting process like?

A: Sometimes it was stressful because I had to compare a lot of things. The toughest part was telling the other coaches that I decided to go somewhere else.

Q: How excited are you to begin the next chapter of your athletic career?

A: Very excited.

 

Jake Thompson

School: South Dakota State University (Brookings)

Major: Biology

Sport: Baseball

Position: Shortstop/Infield

Stat: First Team All-Area selection with .349 batting average and 30 hits last spring

Q: Who was the coach who talked to you, and what did he tell you about the university?

A: Coach (Brian) Grunzke’s the one who recruited me the most. On my visits, I talked to coach (Ben) Norton and coach (Dave) Schrage also. Coach Schrage came on a house visit, so that was really nice too.

Q: How many official and unofficial visits did you make?

A: No official visits. I took two unofficial visits.

Q: What was the campus like?

A: I really enjoyed it. There’s a lot of stuff in a smaller area. It’s a smaller community, and you can tell the community backs the college, and I really liked that part about it.

Q: What stood out to you about the school?

A: The athletic facilities are awesome, and it’s a place where I feel I can get a good education.

Q: What was the recruiting process like?

A: It was fun. I talked to over 40 coaches, so it got to be a lot. I got to learn how to talk to coaches, and there were a lot of life lessons that I learned.

Q: How excited are you to begin the next chapter of your athletic career?

A: I’m really excited. I’ve had a goal since I was 14 that I wrote on a Post-It note that I was going to play Division I baseball, and it finally came true. I’m really looking forward to it.