Six Northrop High School seniors put pen to paper Wednesday as the first wave of Bruins to make their college athletic choices official.
Basketball standout Jalen Jackson signed his national letter of intent with the University of Illinois-Chicago, an NCAA Division I program that plays in the Horizon League. Jalen, who transferred from Carroll to Northrop over the summer, averaged 22.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game as a junior for the Chargers. He earned All-Summit Athletic Conference and Underclass Supreme 15 All-State last season. He plays AAU basketball for the Indy Heat EYBL. Jalen would like to become a chiropractor.
Track standout Morgan Patterson signed her national letter of intent with the track & field program at Bowling Green State University, an NCAA Division I school that competes in the Mid-American Conference. Morgan competes in multiple events for the Bruins, and has amassed laundry list of accomplishments: 3-time SAC champion, 3-time SAC runner-up, 7-time sectional champion, 1-time sectional runner-up, 5-time regional champion, 2-time regional runner-up, 2019 indoor state runner-up in the 60-meter hurdle, 7th in the state in the long jump, and 2-time All-State. As a junior, she qualified for four different events at the state meet. She is also a cheerleader at Northrop. Morgan plans to study microbiology.
SAC Girls Soccer Player of the Year Kayden Tassler is heading to the University of Saint Francis and the Cougars women’s soccer team. Kayden started in goal all four seasons at Northrop, recording 30 shutouts throughout her career. She earned All-SAC 1st team as a senior, 2nd team as a junior and honorable mention as a sophomore. She also earned Academic All-State honors as a junior and senior. Kayden is interested in either becoming an athletic trainer or sports psychologist.
Quinn Olding will continue her volleyball career at Lourdes University, an NAIA program in Sylvania, Ohio. Quinn had an amazing senior season, earning 1st team All-SAC, Academic All-State, team MVP and team Offensive Player of the Year honors. She tallied 270 kills, 46 blocks, 80 digs and a 88.6 percent serving percentage. She plays club volleyball at Empowered Volleyball Academy. Quinn plans to study nursing.
Cole Sikorski will be running track at the University of Saint Francis. Cole competes in the 800-meter run (personal record 2:01) and 1600-meter run (PR 4:48). He placed seventh in the Summit Athletic Conference meet in the 1600. He also was part of the 4x800-meter relay team that was SAC runner-up and placed 13th at state. Cole also ran cross country at Northrop, posting a personal best 18:36 in the 5,000-meter race. Cole plans to study nursing.
Luke Siren is joining the baseball team at Ivy Tech Community College Fort Wayne. He is a a pitcher and outfielder for the Bruin baseball team that won a 4A sectional championship last spring and an SAC championship in 2019. For his high school career, Luke is 4-4 with 39 strikeouts and a 3.0 earned run average. Luke pitched a no-hitter against New Haven in his junior season. At the plate, Luke holds a .271 career batting average with 2 home runs, 23 runs batted in, and 28 runs scored. Luke plans to study secondary education.
Northrop is one of 26 high schools that partner with Parkview Sports Medicine for athletic training, sports performance, nutrition, athletic rehabilitation and other sports medicine services for Bruin student-athletes. Learn more at www.parkviewsportsmedicine.com.