From a Grizzly to a Bruin

Published 4:50 pm Monday, April 9, 2018

HELIX — Sporting a gray, longsleeve Nike dri-fit shirt with a small, blue George Fox University logo on the chest, Helix senior Sadie Wilson sat down at a table at the front of her school cafeteria on Monday morning, ready to make a dream come true.

With the entire Griswold High School student body as well as her family looking on, Wilson was there to trade in her allegiance from one bear mascot to another as the Grizzlies’ three-sport standout signed her National Letter of Intent with the George Fox Bruins to play volleyball beginning in the fall. Wilson has wanted to play collegiate volleyball since she was in junior high, she says, and is thrilled she not only has the chance to play but play at the NCAA Division-III level with a school such as George Fox.

Along with George Fox, Wilson received offers from four other programs, including Pacific University, Lewis & Clark College and Whitman College. Wilson’s very first offer came from Pacific just prior to Thanksgiving, which brought with it a ‘pinch me’ moment for her, just as George Fox’s initial offer in January did.

“After I got my first offer from Pacific to play I was like ‘Did that really just happen?,” Wilson recalled thinking. “Once I got that first one and started getting the other ones I was so beyond excited … I feel so lucky to be able to even have one offer to play in college.”

Wilson’s decision came down to a two-school race between Pacific and George Fox. She admitted it was a difficult decision to decide between the two schools, however everything about George Fox from the campus setting in the town of Newberg to the academics just felt right and helped make the decision for her.

“When it came to visiting the campus and seeing the student life … when I went to George Fox I just felt at home on campus,” Wilson said. “And I’ve heard so many amazing things about it and they have the program I want to study, which is obviously the most important thing.”

Wilson, who plans on studying exercise science with the goal of later going into athletic training or physical therapy, capped her Helix career in an impressive way. The 5-foot-10 Wilson used a relentless work ethic to terrorize opponents, tallying a team-high 298 kills (9.6 per match) with 71 blocks and 60 serving aces in the fall, helping the Grizzlies to a 21-10 overall record and a third place finish in the Old Oregon League.

“She (Wilson) led by example, she came in worked hard and anything you asked her to do, she just did it,” former Helix coach Tammie Parker said to the audience during the ceremony. “She worked well with her teammates, her teammates always respected what she did and this is a huge honor for her to be able to go and play college volleyball. “It will be a different world for her from high school volleyball, but what I know of Sadie is she is definitely up to the challenge and I am very proud of her.”

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Contact Eric at esinger@eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0839. Follow him on Twitter @ByEricSinger.