DB athletes commit to colleges
Five Brahmas will take their athletic talents across the country as they play at the collegiate level.
Seniors Kelly Cheng (left) and Michael Lee (right) swam for DBHS for four years.
December 14, 2017
As many Diamond Bar High School seniors wrap up their college applications, golfer Crystal Wang and swimmers Michael Lee, Kelly Cheng, Kelsey Lloyd and David Wang have all been recruited and committed to play at the collegiate level.
After four years of golfing at DBHS, Wang will attend University of Illinois in the fall for golf. Wang picked up the sport at the age of four, and began playing competitively by the age of nine.
Just last month, she set the best finish in DBHS history at the CIF Girls Golf State Championships, finishing as a state runner-up. She also shot a record breaking seven under par as a junior.
Wang’s recruitment process began during sophomore year, and after considering other offers, she committed to University of Illinois last October. Wang is still deciding if she wants to play professionally past college.
“I like the coach, the teammates…I kind of wanted to go out of state, be somewhere different,” Wang said.
Cheng will be heading to the East Coast to swim for Northeastern University. Cheng began swimming at five years old and has been swimming competitively for seven years now.
Cheng spent her years swimming for DBHS and Brea Aquatics, breaking several school records during her four years.
She committed to Northeastern for its programs, coaches, team and city. Though still unsure about swimming professionally, Cheng sees this as another step toward the potential option.
“[Recruitment] was really stressful…you were talking to colleges way before anyone else was; you were on your own in that kind of sense,” Cheng said.
Wang will be going to school in New York City, committing to swim for Columbia University. As well as swimming for Diamond Bar, Wang has also been a swimmer for La Mirada Armada.
He was named league MVP as a junior and a CIF swimming champion.
During his time at DBHS, Wang has beat multiple school and league records and was named Swimmer of the Year by San Gabriel Valley Tribune.
On the other hand, Lloyd and Lee will both be staying in California.
Lloyd swam for Brea Aquatics as well as for Diamond Bar High School’s swim team, and has committed to attending University of the Pacific.
Lloyd is a defending CIF champion and has broken school records multiple times.
The swimmer has also been named to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune All Area First Team as a junior.
While Lloyd will be heading up north, Lee will stay more local as he attends Claremont McKenna.
Lee swam for Diamond Bar High School, Brea Aquatics and La Mirada Armada as well, having spent the last ten years in the swimming pool.
Lee holds school and meet records, and has swam at multiple high level competitions, such as the Arena Pro Series swimming competition and North American Challenge Cup.
“[Recruitment] was a mixture of anxiety and excitement. At the beginning, I had no clue where I wanted to go, and even when I did, I was still stuck. It seemed that every school was amazing,” Lee said via Facebook.
As for the future, Lee is currently only thinking about college level swimming.
“In college, I want to make new friends and learn new skills and ideas. When I visited Claremont, everyone there was genuinely interested in helping me do that and felt that this was a place that I could really grow,” Lee said.
