Pali High Athletes Sign Early Letters of Intent

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Seven Palisades High athletes realized their dreams of playing in college when they signed early national letters of intent at a lunchtime ceremony in the gym last Wednesday.

After a brief introduction by Athletic Director John Achen and a message from Russ Howard, Assistant Principal  in Charge of Athletics, they took turns sharing a memorable “Palisades” moment and revealed why they chose the schools they did.

Highlighting the group was last year’s girls basketball Player of the Year Chelsey Gipson, who has led the Dolphins to back-to-back City Open Division championships. A 5-foot-6 point guard who signed with Loyola Marymount University, Gipson averaged 17.6 points, 2.8 assists and 3.9 steals in 30 games last season.

“Chelsey’s been an incredible scholar-athlete here and is genuinely a great person,” Pali High head coach Torino Johnson said. “LMU is a great situation and the right environment for her.”

Also among the signees were three baseball players: first baseman Henry Coquillard, who will play at Tufts University in Massachusetts and left-handed pitchers Justin Hirschberg (Occidental College) and Augie Sylk (USC).

Kian Brouwer, who shattered three individual records and was part of two record-setting relays at the City swim finals last spring, signed with UC Santa Barbara.

Heading to UCLA will be Lucas Bellamy, who has won three City tennis titles in three seasons with the Dolphins, and beach volleyball player Alyssa Slagerman, who led Palisades’ girls squad to the IBVL Ocean Division title.