CRESWELL – Look no further than last season’s girls basketball team at Creswell High School to get a glimpse of the athletic program’s success. The Bulldogs went 21-8 and finished fifth in the state, lifted by the play of their three senior leaders – Elliette Kinney, Raelee Green, and Kylee Leonard.
Well, those three athletes just signed letters-of-intent to continue playing at the collegiate level. Green will play basketball at Bushnell University. Kinney and Leonard, meanwhile, actually signed to play different sports. Kinney will play soccer at Johnson and Wales University while Leonard will run track at the University of Portland.
It has been – and continues to be – quite the banner year for Creswell, as 12 athletes signed letters-of-intent last week. Girls basketball coach Tyler Hollingsworth said he couldn’t remember such a large group of kids signing during his nine-year tenure.
“Last year and the year before, I think we only had 2-3 kids signing,” he said.
“The coach at Bushnell couldn’t believe our school only has 350 kids.”
Some of the more notable signings include volleyball star Teighlor Nunez staying close to home and signing with Lane Community College, and three football stars signing for the first time in recent memory.
Logan Keppler signed with College of the Redwoods, Hunter Mustin inked his deal with College of the Siskiyous, and Brandon Church landed with Butte Community College.
As the current school year winds down, the Bulldogs baseball team is contending for its first-ever state title. And the track team is on the verge of setting a few school records this weekend.
It’s been an exciting year from the get-go, and Hollingsworth is just glad he had a front-row seat to watch the steady growth of Kinney, Green, and Leonard.
“Kylee was the biggest workhorse of the three, Elliette was the smoothest, and Raelee was the one who really didn’t see how great she could be,” Hollingsworth said. “She was always competitive, but she’s just now starting to see her own skill-set and abilities.”
Hollingsworth said that Leonard plans to study sports medicine; Green plans to go into nursing, and Kinney wants to attend culinary school.
Even though Kinney and Leonard wound up signing to play other sports, Hollingsworth said he was happy to endorse them in any way he could.
“Several coaches reached out about Elliette in basketball,” he said. “I can’t tell you too much about her left foot in soccer, but I know enough about her as a player that I know she’s going to do well. And Kylie has always put so much time into soccer, but she was first-team all-state in both sports. Soccer was her first love, though, so it’s very cool for her.”
And a very cool day for Creswell High School.
