Wiley, Richards, Cordova and Highlander: Four Cabrillo athletes sign with four-year schools

Jun. 2—Four Cabrillo High student-athletes signed with universities on Wednesday. Some are staying relatively close to the Central Coast while others are on their way to the East Coast.

Former Cabrillo soccer standouts, Bennett Richards on the boys side and Naomi Wiley on the girls, will stay in state. Richards is heading to San Jose State while Wiley is going to Westmont in Santa Barbara.

Then there's Gabby Cordova and Kali Highlander. Those two are headed across the country. Cordova, a former Cabrillo basketball standout, is off to Northern Vermont University.

Highlander is attending Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia.

Noami Wiley, Westmont College

Wiley earned First Team All-Channel League honors as a senior this past season. She led the Conqs with 37 points as she scored 14 goals and dished out nine assists on the year.

"I'm very proud of myself," Wiley said of getting into Westmont. "I applied, didn't know if I would get in because it's a great school academically. I was very surprised when I got in and I'm very appreciative that I'm going there."

Wiley said her most fond memory at Cabrillo was when she headed in two goals as a freshman during a Christmas tournament in Southern California.

"I don't like to head the ball, I'm not that type of player," Wiley said. "I scored two header goals, back-to-back, off the same corner kick play. That was one of my proudest moments here at Cabrillo. I'll never forget that."

Wiley said she hopes to play on the attack like she did at Cabrillo while at Westmont.

"I like to score goals, but I don't know what the coach has in store for me," Wiley said.

The Warriors are an NAIA program. They won the Golden State Athletic Conference tournament championship last season and made the NAIA national quarterfinals.

Wiley said she hopes to work in education after she's done playing soccer.

"I'm going to major in Liberal Arts, Elementary Education," Wiley said. "I'll figure out everything real soon."

Bennett Richards, San Jose State

Playing college soccer is a pretty big deal for Richards.

"It was my dream for a long time," in fact, he said. "To finally have it here, now, I feel super excited for it."

Richards had a GPA over 4.20 while at Cabrillo. The forward earned First Team All-Channel League honors this past season.

"I would say I'm a pretty confident player, but this is going to be a new challenge," Richards said of playing at the Division I level. "I've never quite experienced this before. It's going to be new, but I think I'm going to be confident and I can get a lot of playing time as a freshman."

Richards was a standout striker for the Conqs and hopes to play at striker for the Spartans, though he noted he can also excel on the wing.

His shining moment at Cabrillo? A win at powerhouse Santa Barbara.

"We played them away, Santa Barbara is a powerful soccer school with a lot of history," Richards said. "We were tied 2-2 and I had the last-minute winning goal in that game. That was a pretty historic win for Cabrillo, so that was cool."

Richards said he'll start undeclared at SJSU, though he'll likely study Business there.

"I would like to start my own business eventually," he said. "Nothing specific yet."

Gabby Cordova, Northern Vermont

Cordova had a very strong senior season at Cabrillo, earning First Team All-Channel League honors. She grew up in Texas and came to Cabrillo via the Air Force. Her family will move to Virginia and will be a bit closer to her up in Vermont.

"It's fairly close to where my parents will be," Cordova said. "We've been moving around a lot."

Cordova said attending Cabrillo has been a fun experience.

"The people are really nice and I love the weather," she said. "It was great to meet new friends and play with this amazing team. The community was really nice."

Cordova was a knock-down shooter at Cabrillo and will mostly play the two-guard at NVU.

Her top moments in Black and Gold?

"Meeting people and, obviously, beating Lompoc," Cordova said. "We beat Lompoc every game, I never lost to Lompoc."

Cordova said she'll commission into the Air Force and will study Biology at NVU. She'll hope to focus on studying Radiology.

Is she ready for that Vermont weather?

"No," Cordova said. "I need to get a lot of sweaters. It's very cold there."

Kali Highlander, Shenandoah University

Highlander is off to Winchester, Virginia, where she plans on playing middle blocker for the Hornets, a Division III program.

Highlander actually toured the campus when her older sister was considering the school.

"I know they have an incredibly strong Biology program, that's what they're known for," she said. "They have a bunch of different programs throughout the campus; internships and stuff like that."

Highlander spent just one year at Cabrillo, but quickly made it her home.

"Coming on to this team, I was scared, but they made it a big family," she said. "This school taught me a different kind of academics. This school was a lot more intense so it made me a more focused student. Then, the athletics, they were on another level of intensity."

Highlander came to Cabrillo from Virginia and she's headed back there. She said her favorite moment at CHS was playing in the annual Tie-Dye fundraiser game against Lompoc, where the teams wear tie-dyed jerseys to raise funds for cancer awareness.

"That was the best thing. I never had a big rivalry game at my old school, so that was crazy to see how many fans were here and how intense that was," Highlander said. "That was fun."