Ceja-Pena to the Volunteer State to Throw

Hatnell sophomore Alyssa Ceja-Pena was hoping her second year would be her's to shine in the ring. She started off the spring with a new personal best 124'1" in the hammer but her season was cut short March 14 when the state of California declared a shelter-in-place order. The subsequent cancellation of the spring 2020 track & field season left the North Salinas High School graduate with just three meets on her second year resume and no championship performances to prove to four year colleges and universities she was improving rapidly. Thankfully, through the power of social media, she was still able to demonstrate her desire to improve through videos of technical drills and highlights from her weight room sessions. This caught the attention of NCAA DI program East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee. With a 3.700 GPA in her pre-nursing courses, Ceja-Pena will accept a financial aid package that covers nearly her entire cost of attendance and she will compete in indoor and outdoor track & field for ETSU. Ceja-Pena was 11th in the hammer and discus at the Coast Conference Championship as a freshman and member of the 2019 Coast Conference Championship team. She was also named to the President's Academic List three semesters and once to the Dean's Academic List.