Fear gripped Karisma Carmichael as she picked up the phone and dialed the Kansas State coaching staff.
The Oaks Christian High School soccer standout had just torn her ACL for the third time in four years on Jan. 6 against Agoura, and her future flashed before her eyes.
Carmichael had no idea how Kansas State would respond. Would it yank the scholarship she worked so hard to obtain, just a month before Signing Day?
“I was so scared; I didn’t know what they were going to do,” Carmichael said. “That was one of the hardest things I ever had to do.”
Crying as she made the call, Carmichael said Kansas State coach Mike Dibini and assistant coach Gabe Romo took the news hard, commiserating with their prized recruit.
It was her second torn ACL since she committed to Kansas State as a sophomore.
Remarkably Kansas State honored its original scholarship offer, making Wednesday morning’s Signing Day ceremony at Oaks Christian a truly joyous occasion.
PHOTO GALLERY: Images from Oaks Christian’s Signing Day ceremony
“I have never been more confident in my decision to be a Wildcat,” Carmichael said. “A lot of people doubted my decision. ‘Why K-State?’ they would ask. This shows me exactly why.
“K-State has been super-supportive. They talk to me every single day, making sure I’m OK and that my recovery is going great. They have given nothing but support.”
Carmichael missed her entire freshman and junior years of high school and half of her senior year.
The one year Carmichael was healthy as a sophomore she earned CIF Southern Section Division 2 Offensive Player of the Year honors.
So Kansas State rolled the dice, banking on Carmichael’s tenacity to return from another arduous road to recovery.
“It would have been easy for them to revoke it this time,” Carmichael said. “They truly inspire me every single day to be the best me I can be and to work as hard as I can to be the best player I can be.”
Carmichael said she hopes to make her return in eight months, in time for her freshman campaign at Kansas State. She said she plans to do four to five physical therapy sessions per week until she reports to Kansas State on June 5, where she will follow their daily regimen to get back on her feet.
“This process is not really physical. It’s about the mental and emotional side of things,” Carmichael said. “You have to have a strong mentality and stay super strong and positive. You can’t let negative thoughts creep into your head.”
Carmichael said it is important to have a strong support group.
Carmichael credits her mother, Beth, her father, Kevin, her club coach, Kristy Walker, her high school coach Sebastian Alvarado and her Kansas State coaches for being in her corner.
“I absolutely would not be here without my family, my coaches from K-State, my club coaches and my teammates,” Carmichael said. “Honestly I can’t thank everybody enough for how much support they’ve given me.”
Carmichael used her crutches to take her place among the 30 Oaks Christian student-athletes who were participating in the Signing Day ceremony.
Among the large group was softball twins Kayla and Sarah Ketring, who became sort of a package deal when they both signed a “likely letter” to Pennsylvania, since Ivy League schools technically don’t have letters of intent.
“It’s awesome to be going together,” Kayla Ketring said. “We’re going far away, but we are going to have a little piece of home with each other.”
The Ketrings each have a 4.0 GPA and scored a solid 27 out of 36 on the ACT.
Originally Sarah wanted to stay on the West Coast, but said she had a revelation during math class.
“I was doing a math problem and that’s when it hit me. I knew I needed to challenge myself academically,” Sarah Ketring said. “So I decided to join my sister on the East Coast.”
Another Ivy League recruit, basketball standout Sydney Boyer, reaffirmed her commitment to Princeton.
“I’m really excited. I can’t wait for the year to come so I can be with my new team. I want to continue to progress as a player and go to college to find new opportunities.”
Baseball quintet Adam Kerner (San Diego), Carson Rudd (Stanford), Jack Aldrich (Santa Clara), Holden Christian (Loyola Marymount) and Dane Morrow (Pepperdine) all were celebrated after signing in the fall.
USC also pulled in a trio of Oaks Christian track standouts in state high jump champion Cassidy Palka, state 100 meter champion Lauren Rain Williams and Nick Moore.
Tennis standout Sophie Benedetti signed with UCLA.
Matthew Outcalt, who was a part of the Lions’ first CIF-SS championship boys water polo team in the fall, signed with Pepperdine, where his coach, Jack Kocur, also starred.
Volleyball player Regan Dinovitz signed with Claremont McKenna.
Soccer players Lauren Macarelli (LMU) and Ian Hartford (Seattle University) also signed.
Oaks Christian boasted a pair of lacrosse signees in Sarah Spaeth (Chapman) and Brooke Bryan (Liberty).
Westlake
Westlake held a morning ceremony for soccer players Hannah Sharts (UCLA), Sami Fairweather (San Diego) and Emmalee Linares (Cal State Dominguez Hills) to accompany football player Cameron Trimble (UC Davis).
“We’ve known where we were going for a while, but it was really exciting to make it official,” Fairweather said.
Originally the school was going to host it in the Hall of Fame room atop the stadium, but moved it to the College and Career Center in the middle of campus to give a chance for their classmates to converge.
“I had been waiting for this moment since I was little. I’ve always dreamt about it,” Sharts said. “It meant a lot that we had a lot of friends supporting and cheering us on. It meant the world to us. And it feels like all our hard work paid off.”
Chaminade
Duke-bound soccer player Lily Nabet received her own Signing Day ceremony, not having to share the spotlight with anyone.
Family, friends, teammates and coaches piled into one of Chaminade’s media rooms for a lunch-time ceremony. Her mother and grandmother gave her big smooches in the middle of the ceremony, which included speeches and countless photos.
“Just growing up, I didn’t want to go anywhere else. I sat on that one school,” Nabet said. “During a showcase, my coach Kristy (Walker) told me they really liked me. That was probably the greatest day of my life. It feels great to be able to go to my dream school and share this with my family and friends.
“At one moment, I thought I was going to cry, but I held it in.”
Alemany
Softball player Carly Acuna helped set up for the football Signing Day ceremony as part of her ASB responsibilities, but knew her day is coming soon.
Acuna has already signed with Concordia in New York and shortstop Alyssa Gutierrez has signed with Holy Cross. But they are waiting until pitcher Julianna Barry finalizes her deal with Chestnut Hill in Pennsylvania before having a ceremony.
“We made a pact when we were 12 that we were all going to sign together,” Acuna said. “We’re OK with waiting a little longer.”
Around the horn
Grace Brethren soccer standout Sammi Fisher signed with Notre Dame.
Newbury Park had six soccer players sign: Tara McKeown (USC), Alyssa Greenblat (New Mexico State), Kate Manzione (The Citadel), Chandler Schioppi (Southern Oregon), Jenny Grossman (Monterey Bay) and Jules Oswald (Arcadia).
Sierra Canyon’s Taylor Mitchell, like club teammate Nabet, signed with Duke.
Moorpark goalkeeper Courtney Worstell signed with Washington State and forward Jordyn Geller signed with Columbia, Newbury Park’s Alyssa Greenblat signed with New Mexico State, Valencia’s Isabel Salvadori signed with Cal State Fullerton and Granada Hills soccer standout Kepler Despinos signed with Cornell.
Crespi soccer player Gabriel Elizondo signed with New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Royal water polo players Natalie Espinoza signed with Fresno State and Dara Bleiberg with George Washington University, but they were already honored with an unlikely ceremony during Back to School Night.
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