The Santa Barbara Soccer Club celebrated a group of 21 graduating seniors who will be furthering their academic and athletic careers at the next level on Tuesday at the SBSC Clubhouse in Goleta.
SBSC, which has developed into one of the top soccer clubs in the nation, honored 15 players from its MLS Next 2008 team, five GA Aspire 08/07 players and one player from the 2008 SBSC White squad.
The MLS Next 2008 team will have four student-athletes competing at the Division I level in college: Isaac Bakwira (Boston College), Mohammed Kamil Suhuyini Abdul Nafeo (Georgetown), Nathan Riner (UCSB) and Keean Elliott (Harvard).
At the Division II level, the trio of Donovan Espino, Isaac Jimenez and Joseph Ramirez will stay in the 805 as they join the Westmont Warriors in the fall.
Meanwhile, George Marin (University of Chicago), Charlie Dorion (Pomona Pitzer), Bryan Antov (Chapman), Dimash Anaurbek (Amherst) and Quincy Thorne (Colorado College) will continue their careers in the Division III ranks.
The MLS Next 2008 signees were rounded out by Brandon Montalvo, David Magana and Andres Gonsales, who will all be playing at Santa Barbara City College next year.
As for the GA Aspire 08/07 team, Lainey Lajoie will take her talents to Illinois and play Division-III soccer at Augustana College.
Amy Rosas will further her academic and athletic career at Ventura City College, while Amy Corona, Isabella Rubio and Harlyn Griffin will join the Vaqueros at Santa Barbara City College.
Kieran Buell was the lone member of the 2008 SBSC White team honored on Tuesday, finalizing his commitment to Pacific University in Oregon, a Division-III program.