SATURDAY, MARCH 20, 2021
BAKER CITY HERALD — 5A
Bulldog athletes advance their careers
■ Baker seniors Jake Cuzick, Sydney Keller and Mason Van Arsdall recently signed letters of intent to play sports in college
By Corey Kirk
ckirk@bakercityherald.com
Over the past month, three
Baker High School seniors
have taken a momentous
step in their athletic careers,
signing their national letter of
intent to compete on the colle-
giate level in their respective
sports.
Although Jake Cuzick,
Sydney Keller and Mason
Van Arsdall will enjoy their
remaining days as Baker
Bulldogs, they’re also excited
about the next chapter in
their lives, both athletically
and academically.
Jake Cuzick, cross-
country, Mount St. Mary’s,
Maryland
“It’s really been the
driving force for me for
a long time, it’s been
my longtime goal since
eighth-grade ...”
— Jake Cuzick, talking about
competing in cross-country
in college
C
uzick is ready to be a
Mountaineer.
Competing in col-
lege has been a dream for this
Baker distance runner since
he was in junior high.
“It’s really been the driving
force for me for a long time,
it’s been my longtime goal
since eighth grade, seeing
people sign with big schools,
it’s been a motivator,” Cuzick
said.
Cuzick has been a fi xture
in the cross-country and track
and fi eld teams at Baker, and
Suzy Cole, who coaches both
teams, has enjoyed watching
him progress.
“Jake is probably one of the
most, if not the most focused
cross-country runner I’ve
had,” Cole said. “In seventh
grade we knew Jake loved
running, and was very serious
about where he wanted to go
with his running. Where kids
always grew into the love of
it, Jake has always had that.”
After posting a strong
season his junior year in cross
country in the fall of 2019,
Cuzick faced a series of chal-
lenges.
COVID-19 canceled his
junior track and fi eld season,
and two separate hip injuries
complicated the college re-
cruiting process.
“I also haven’t ran in over
a year now, so it was hard
having to explain that at the
same time, but the thing with
cross-country is that it’s not
like other sports, if you can
run fast, you can run fast
— you prove that with your
time,” Cuzick said. “I had a
few times, and I was able to
get on the phone with a few
coaches. I was able to explain
my situation and what my
goals were, I was able to get
some interest.”
Cuzick received scholar-
ship offers from fi ve schools,
including the University of
South Carolina Upstate, and
Jacksonville State in Ala-
bama.
But Cuzick chose Mount
St. Mary’s, a private liberal
arts university in Maryland,
because of what the school of-
fered academically as well as
the cross-country team.
“They just have a program
that’s promising into the
future,” Cuzick said.
When Cuzick signed his
letter of intent for a partial
scholarship to compete for
the Mountaineers, a feeling of
relief came over him.
“My spring junior year and
even the beginning of my
senior year I didn’t have one
college talking to me, there
Buell Gonzales Jr./Contributed Photo
Flanked by his parents, Roy and Adrian, Jake Cuzick
signed a letter of intent to compete in cross-country for
Mount St. Mary’s, a university in Maryland.
was a while I was worried
that I didn’t get anybody to
respond, so it was a relief to
get that stress over. Now I
know where I’m going, now
I know what I’m working
towards,” Cuzick said.
Cole couldn’t have been
more excited for him when he
signed.
“He has been so driven
by that for so long, and with
these injuries there have
defi nitely been some dark
days. I was very excited that
he’s having the opportunity
to get both his academic and
athletic dream,” Cole said.
Cole is excited to see Cuz-
ick grow at Mount St. Mary’s
as an athlete.
“He’s already been through
so much, and he still knows
he loves it,” Cole said. “The
advantages of colleges being
able to train full year, have
the fi tness go with the nutri-
tion, and the athletic training
and all that a high school
doesn’t offer.”
Cuzick’s days of running
for the Bulldogs are offi cially
over. After suffering a tear in
the labrum of his left hip, he
spent most of the fall of 2020
recovering. Then right before
the pandemic-abbreviated
season began this March,
Cuzick had to have surgery
due to the same injury on his
other hip, thus ending his
athletic career at Baker.
“It was diffi cult for a while,
this surgery was a lot harder,”
Cuzick said. “It’s just a lot
more painful. Coming out of
it now I think I’m in a better
place mentally. Physically
it was really challenging, it
wasn’t a lot of fun.”
Cole said Cuzick remains a
valuable member of the Bak-
er team. Even though he’s
not competing, he inspires his
teammates at practices and
meets.
“The kids have been
around him enough to know
who he is and his passion,”
Cole said. “It’s just always
that sad, healthy reminder
that you can hit bumps in
your life, and how you tackle
that bump is huge and they
can come in a lot of different
forms. Jake has done a great
job displaying that dedication
and stick-to-itiveness.”
Refl ecting on his time at
BHS, Cuzick is grateful for all
the memories and friends he
made during these past four
years.
“I have met a lot of amaz-
ing people through cross-
country, some of my friends
I’ll have regardless where I
go,” he said. “I don’t regret a
single injury. It’s made me
who I am, it’s made me work
harder. I’ve enjoyed every
second of it.”
Cuzick intends to major
in chemistry at Mount St.
Mary’s, with aspirations of
becoming an astronaut in his
future. Only six weeks into
the recovery from his latest
hip surgery, he hopes to be
back running by summer,
training for the start of his
college career.
Sydney Keller, cross-
country and track and
fi eld, Belmont-Abbey,
North Carolina
“I have always loved
running, and it’s the best
shot for me to fi nd success.”
— Sydney Keller
F
or Sydney Keller,
there’s no such thing
as an off-season.
During her years at BHS
Keller has won an individual
state championship in wres-
tling and was a key member
of Baker’s 2019 Class 4A state
championship basketball
team.
But she fi nds herself most
content competing on a cross-
country course or on a track.
“There hasn’t been a
season in cross-country or
track where I felt burnt out
like basketball or wrestling,”
Keller said. “There is always
a point in time where I can’t
wait to do cross-country or
track. I have always loved
running, and it’s the best shot
for me to fi nd success.”
Keller won the district
championship in 2019 and
fi nished ninth at the Class 4A
state meet that year.
Using websites such as
Next College Student Athlete,
Keller was able to make
contacts with college coaches
to see what their programs
had to offer.
“The coaches reached out to
me, and I reached out to them
to try and get a hold of their
programs. That was the big-
gest factor of getting myself
out there,” Keller said.
Although schools through
Oregon expressed interest,
when the time came for a de-
cision Keller chose Belmont-
Abbey, a private liberal arts
college in North Carolina.
She’s ready to compete
for the Crusaders in cross-
country.
“I was really excited to
continue my athletic career
as I go to the next level. It
was such a weight lifted off
my shoulders, I didn’t have to
dwell on it any longer,” Keller
said.
Cole, her longtime coach,
said she’s seen Keller’s college
potential since Keller was in
junior high.
“She has always had that
intense, don’t tell me no (at-
titude), and she always knew
that she wanted to work hard
enough to be at that collegiate
level,” Cole said.
Cole said she was espe-
Hailey Keller/Contributed Photo
Sydney Keller signs a letter of intent to compete in cross-country and track and fi eld
at Belmont-Abbey College in North Carolina. Keller sat between her parents, Douglas
and Theresa Keller, and she was also joined by her coach in both sports at BHS, Suzy
Cole, far left.
cially impressed by how much
Keller improved as a runner
from her sophomore year to
her junior season in 2019,
when she won at district.
“A new spark twitched,”
Cole said. “That summer
she worked extremely hard
on physical conditioning,
strength, nutrition and she
came back a fi ghter.”
Cole said that although
Keller had college offers in
Oregon, she wasn’t surprised
that Keller chose a school
across the country.
“She had some really good
offers around here, she was
just like ‘I want to go some-
where else,’ ” Cole said. “For
her it really was a combina-
tion of where do we fi nd the
pros and cons combos of
athletics and academics.”
Keller is eager to join the
Crusaders cross-country and
track and fi eld teams.
“I’m just excited for the
atmosphere, because you see
on the TV and everything, you
see the long jumpers and they
start getting the clap going be-
fore they go,” Keller said. “Just
the high energy, the buildings
and along with being around
such a supportive team.”
Cole said Keller will have
great chances to continue
to improve her running in
college.
“Finding a college that is
still willing to invest in her,
in Belmont-Abbey she will
be one of their top competi-
tors, and so she will get a lot
of experience and attention,”
Cole said.
She hopes Keller will also
fi nd time to just enjoy the
experience.
“She’s just very, very
intense all the time, just kind
of getting her to not overana-
lyze every little thing, just
enjoy the moment and refl ect
on it whether it’s a good mo-
ment or a bad moment,” Cole
said.
See Bulldogs/Page 6A
e
c
a
e
P of Mind
Our Best
Tire Value
PROMISE
Free Services with tires purchased
at Lew Bros. Tire
Custom
Wheels,
Lifts &
Leveling
Kits
FREE Rotations
FREE Rebalance
FREE Flats
Lew Brothers Tire Service
541-523-3679
210 Bridge St. Baker City, OR