San Marcos High School celebrated five student athletes signing their letters of intent to play at the next level during a ceremony in front of the school on Wednesday.
The Royals moving on are Peter Frisell to Chapman University for water polo, Lily Bienstock to Tufts University for soccer, Allie Fryklund to Arizona Christian for softball, Emma Grabbenstetter to Villanova for water polo and Taylor Wilson to Stanford for beach volleyball.
Grabenstetter has family ties with Villanova and knows the campus well.
“My mother went to Villanova, so I’ve been going there for years,” she said.
She said she’s excited to attend college out of state.
“I know I wanted to get out of California,” she said, “and I know I definitely wanted to continue playing at a high competitive level.”
Villanova is a Division 1 program that plays in the Mid-Atlantic Athletic Association.
“I love the academics and everything about it,” she said of the Philadelphia school. “I’m excited to get away from here to something new, something special.”
Bienstock is also looking forward to going back east.
Tufts is in Somerville, Mass.
“I’m excited,” she said. “I’m nervous about the cold. I just bought a parka.”
Bienstock visited several schools. When she arrived at Tufts, she knew it was the right place for her.
“It just felt right. I knew I wanted a smaller school, where there would be more attention and smaller class sizes,” she said. “I focus more on the academics, so soccer was an added bonus. They have a great D3 program, so it kind of worked itself out.”
She plans to major in biopsychology and pursue pre-med or pre-dental programs.
Bienstock will be close to her brother, Dylan Bienstock. He attends Dartmouth, where he plays water polo.
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.