Four Columbus High athletes are heading to college programs
Four athletes from Columbus High School signed NCAA letters of intent Friday afternoon at a press conference in Columbus High’s gymnasium.
Blue Devil soccer players Faith Knoedler, Josie Wood and Vanessa Aviles signed to play at North Greenville, Minnesota and Columbus State, respectively. Heaven Allen signed to run cross country at South Carolina Upstate.
Wood, the L-E’s All-Bi-City Girls Offensive Player of the Year in 2019 and an All-Bi-City second teamer the season before, notched 23 goals and 17 assists last season. And she consistently delivered, scoring in 15 of 22 games. She also produced in the clutch, with two game-winners as well as goals in two of the team’s four playoff matches.
“I feel extremely lucky,” Wood said. “Just to get the opportunity to play at such a high level, I’m just really excited for that, and for the competition, and to be able to work for a position, hopefully.”
Wood said she trains around four times a week and travels twice each week to train with her club team, Birmingham United. That’s five hours in the car each week, plus any additional time spent training at Columbus State’s soccer facilities.
Knoedler was a 2019 All-Bi-City second teamer. She scored 14 goals and registered 10 assists for the Blue Devils last season, according to MaxPreps, as the team made the semifinals of the class 4A state tournament.
A “military child,” she played at numerous club teams throughout her career, including World Class FC in New York, AFC Lightning in Atlanta and two stints at Red Star in Columbus.
Aviles, an All-Bi-City first teamer in 2019, scored 19 goals and registered 25 assists for the Blue Devils last season, according to MaxPreps. She’ll join a Cougars team that won 13 games last season and made the semifinals of the Peach Belt Conference Tournament.
Aviles has scored 38 goals and registered 40 assists over the past two seasons. She played club soccer at Red Star.
“It’s overwhelming, but in a good way,” Aviles said. “Coach Jay (Entlich) is honestly amazing.”
Allen was a 2019 All-Bi-City first team runner, and the 2017 All-Bi-City Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year. Her sophomore season, she won the Region 1-4A meet with a time of 19:50.33 and the City Championship meet at 21:04.50.
Allen finished her sophomore year off strong, taking 40th at the Class 4A state meet by clocking in at 21:59.94.
“It’s good to finally make it official,” Allen said. “I feel a lot better, knowing that I’m officially committed and I know where I’m going, and I’m excited for the future.”
Friday’s signings bring Columbus High’s total to six this semester: Ben Schorr signed to play baseball at Auburn, while Maddy Krueger signed to play womens’ golf at Division II University of West Florida of the Gulf South Conference, on Nov. 13.
This story was originally published December 13, 2019 at 4:39 PM.
