By Joseph Staszewski
Sabrina Southerland and Deajah Stevens both wanted a feeling of family and comfort in their college destinations. The Benjamin Cardozo track stars both found it in different ways as Southerland heads to Georgetown and Stevens moves on to South Carolina next season after signing national letters of intent.
Southerland, one of the premier middle-distance runners in the country, picked Georgetown over Villanova to literally be close to her aunt Giana Hendricks, who lives just 10 minutes away from the Washington, D.C., school. She didn’t want to feel too far away from family after leaving home.
“So it’s not like I’m really away,” Southerland said.
Stevens, on the other, hand found a deep connection with her future teammates and coaches at South Carolina. She immediately connected with them on her visit in May. The New Rochelle transfer felt welcomed with open arms by girls she barely knew during her visit in April and picked the Gamecocks over Tennessee, Miami and Kentucky.
“It was their first time meeting me and they already welcomed me in a family and made me feel very at home,” Stevens said. “I’m living so far from home it’s nice to have a team that will treat you like family.”
Southerland leaves behind a stellar career at Cardozo. She helped the Judges win four PSAL indoor titles and three outdoor crowns. Southerland ran the second fastest high school 800 meters ever with a time of 2:03.59 this season. She and Stevens were both members of the distance medley relay team that gave Cardozo its first Penn Relay Championship of an America title. She headed to the rival school of brother and basketball star James, who recently graduated from Syracuse.
She hopes to continue that success at Georgetown with Coaches Patrick Henner and Michael Smith. Southerland said she immediately clicked with the staff and believes they will bring out the best in her. She was reminded of working with Cardozo assistant Coach Ray James.
“Coach Mike is great,” Southerland said. “He seems very energetic. He’s very into track and serious about his work. He kind of reminded me of Coach Ray. He knew how to push me.”
Stevens didn’t want to push herself through the end of her first season with the Judges. She suffered a knee injury and shut things down trying not to risk further injury despite having more to prove in her mind.
“It was very disappointing because I feel like I still have more to show,” she said. “No track runner wants to not be able to run, but I don’t want to hurt me in the long run.”
She is hoping for big things under Coach Curtis Frye at South Carolina, which is know for developing sprinters. Stevens ran the fastest 200 meters in the state indoors at 23.89 and won a state title in the 300 meters.
“I really clicked with the coaches when I first met them,” Stevens said.
Both she and Southerland are happy to have the process over with and feel they picked the best destinations.
“I pretty much liked everything about it,” Steven’s said. “There wasn’t anything that I didn’t like. So it was like it feels like a good fit.”
