On Wednesday, Feb. 5th, Castilleja held its annual signing day ceremony to celebrate its two NCAA Division I student-athletes who committed to Stanford University. Ella Detter ’25 will continue her swimming career, and Claire Sun ’25 will continue her beach volleyball career.

The event, which falls on National Girls and Women in Sports Day, aims to highlight these important events to “make it feel special for… the accomplishments [the athletes] have,” Athletic Director Amy Chinn said. While the Division I National Signing Day takes place in November, more schools now hold their signing day ceremonies on February 5th to align with National Girls and Women in Sports Day. This also accounts for Division III athletes since they typically hear back from coaches later in their senior year.

Detter, a mid-distance swimmer specializing in the 100 and 200 butterfly, received offers from five other schools, including Northwestern, where her older sister, Olivia Detter, currently swims. Choosing between Northwestern and Stanford was incredibly difficult, as they “hadn’t not swum together before.” But when Detter visited Stanford, she had a feeling as soon as she stepped on campus that “it was the vibe,” and it was so close to home, making her more confident in her decision.

Detter’s recruiting process happened early on in her junior year since NCAA rules prohibit DI college coaches from talking to players regarding recruitment until after their sophomore year on June 15th. By that week, Detter had narrowed her college search down to 15 schools, and by the fall of her junior year, she had verbally committed to Stanford after going on several official visits to other schools.

For Detter, the best part about swimming is the community and “doing hard things with a group of people and being able to say ‘Oh, I did something hard’ and be proud of that.” At Stanford, she looks forward to the personalized training and the opportunity to work with Stanford coaches.

Detter’s success is a testament to her hard work, commitment, and passion for swimming. Even on days when she doesn’t have morning practices, she wakes up just as early to get ahead on homework, ensuring she manages her time in the most efficient way possible.

If there’s a piece of advice Detter would give to athletes looking to get recruited, she’d say not to stress too much. “You’ll know when it’s the right place,” she said. “Even if the schools of your preference aren’t responding to you or don’t seem to be interested in you, it’ll work out. Wherever you’re gonna end up, that’s where you’re supposed to be,” said Detter.

Sun, a split blocker who plays more of a defensive position, loves beach volleyball due to the community and environment, similar to Detter. “You’re outside, having fun, good vibes overall.” She describes beach volleyball as “freeing.” “You kind of just put your body everywhere, and you don’t… worry about getting hurt. And because it’s two v two, you’re pretty much always touching the ball, which is amazing,” she said.

Sun chose Stanford not only because of its impressive academics and athletics but also because of its location. Beach volleyball is one of the fastest-growing NCAA sports right now, but only a few schools have access to beaches due to location and weather.

Similar to swimming, beach volleyball recruiting typically occurs after the sophomore year. However, a lot of unofficial recruiting happens before June 15th of sophomore year, since there aren’t many schools and there aren’t many players, meaning people “get snatched up pretty quickly,” said Sun.

Sun mentioned how the COVID-19 pandemic decreased the recruiting class size, and it felt odd for her to have the recruiting timeline be shifted up that early because it was challenging to get feedback from schools. Sun worked extremely hard to be where she is today, taking her classes virtually in the car on the way to beach volleyball practices in the East Bay. The most important thing she found in her recruiting process was being “proactive,” which involved sending film, emailing coaches, attending camps and “owning the recruiting process.”

At Stanford, Sun looks forward to the student-athlete experience and the opportunity to train among amazing athletes, including Olympians.

The two future Cardinals have grown tremendously since they both started in 6th grade. “They’ve always been determined and dedicated to doing their best at every opportunity…they show up every day and work hard, and not only outwork their teammates, but also be really supportive of their teammates…. [and] that process has led them to success throughout their careers,” said Chinn. Not only have they improved within their sports, but off the sand and out of the pool, they have grown to become better, more supportive teammates and have “set themselves up for success.”

As Sun and Detter prepare for the next chapter of their lives, they are thrilled to be joining each other at Stanford. Detter hopes to pursue the business track, while Sun is interested in political science. “They really put everything into setting themselves up, and they’ve done that,” said Chinn. The Castilleja community is proud of their accomplishments and can’t wait to see what they do next!