BOULDER — Five Jefferson High School athletes have signed letters of intent to continue their athletic careers in college.
Simonie Mendenhall and Emma Stout both signed with Northwest University in Kirkland, Wash., to play volleyball; Lexi Winstead signed with Montana Western’s cheer team; Callie Warfle signed with Carroll College for track and field; and Carsen Dodge signed with Cornell College (Iowa) baseball.
Warfle will be staying closest to home, as the commute to Carroll College is about 30 minutes.
“I always knew I wanted to stay close, but not this close,” Warfle said with a smile. “I honestly had no clue about Carroll until one day I got an email from coach (Harry) Clark saying, ‘Hey, we’re interested in you.’ I went and toured and I loved it there. I just loved the atmosphere of the campus and the program, I guess. It just seemed like every athlete they focused on and their goal was just to make you better.”
Dodge will be headed to Mount Vernon, Iowa, where he will play Division III baseball for the Rams. Exposure for baseball players in Montana isn’t easy to gain, but Dodge competed around the country for his chance to be seen.
“The specific way I got recognized was I did a tournament in Arizona, actually, and they contacted me. I took a trip down there and really fell in love with the place,” Dodge said. “A lot of it was the energy from the players. There was a lot of team camaraderie that I could tell. The facilities were nice and I love that everybody was really enjoying their time there. … It’s definitely hard in Montana being so isolated, but I think putting yourself out there is a really good thing to get recognized.”
