Flintridge Preparatory School held a special College Signing Day ceremony to celebrate the five Class of 2023 student-athletes who signed to play sports for NCAA Division III colleges and universities. Max Brunngraber signed to Pomona-Pitzer for baseball; Marvin Furuta signed to Chapman University for track; Ben Odawara signed to Willamette University to play soccer; Alexander Oh signed to Pomona-Pitzer for golf; and Ana Bozzi-Mackay signed to Williams College for soccer.
“We at Flintridge Prep are very proud of our student-athletes who will are making the jump to play sports at the Division III level,” Flintridge Prep Athletic Director Sean Beattie said. “It has been our pleasure to watch them grow and mature as athletes and young adults. We want to wish them the best of luck once they begin the next chapter of their student-athlete experience in college.”
Bozzi-Mackay has played soccer for most of her life, beginning competitive play at age 8. During 8th-grade, she played for the U19 SoCal Academy girls’ soccer team, the top-ranked U19 team in the United States at the time. At Flintridge Prep, she started for the varsity team all four years, helping the Wolves win four league titles. She was the Prep League’s defensive MVP in her junior year, co-defensive MVP during her senior year and a CIF Southern Section first-team selection two years in a row. She has also been called up to USSF national team regional training camps multiple times. More recently, she helped her club team, Los Angeles Soccer Club, win a national championship and, for the past two years, has been the starting goalkeeper for the United women’s soccer team LASC, a traveling semiprofessional soccer team.
Brunngraber played a variety of sports growing up, but his athletic focus at Flintridge Prep was baseball. He won multiple all-league honors and took home the top pitcher award as a junior. In both his junior and senior seasons, he logged an impressive sub-2.00 ERA, and in his senior season he struck out 100 batters over 62 innings pitched. Brunngraber committed to Pomona-Pitzer for the great academic opportunity along with the chance to play for a high-level Division III team.
Furuta’s speed has always been an asset as a multi-sport athlete. While he came to Flintridge Prep focused on basketball, he became interested in track as a freshman and ran for the varsity track team for four years. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, his first full year of track was as a junior, and he earned third place in the Prep League in the 100 meters and advanced to CIF in both the 100 and 200. His senior year looked promising, too, as he was one of the fastest sprinters in Prep League in both the 100 and 200 but was unable to qualify for CIF due to an injury in the league finals. Furuta now looks forward to sprinting at the collegiate level at Chapman University.
Odawara, who started playing soccer for L.A. Premier in 2nd-grade, began his Flintridge Prep career by solidifying himself as a starter on the varsity team as a freshman. He joined FC Golden State Force his sophomore year where he competed in MLS Next, a youth soccer league. His team has been recognized as one of the top in the country, making deep runs in the national playoffs all three years he has been on the team.
Oh has helped the Flintridge Prep golf team win multiple Prep League titles, which included two undefeated seasons and the first CIF team championship in school history. He was the Prep League MVP for two consecutive years, Coach’s MVP as a junior, and co-MVP as a senior. Outside of school, Alexander was a 2021 SCPGA Junior Fall Series award-winner through consistent play on the Players Tour. In 2022, he finished in the top 10 numerous times at Toyota Tour Cup events, including a runner-up finish at Olivas Links last October. That year, he also finished within the top 10 in multiple national AJGA tournaments, leading him to receive the prestigious AJGA Rolex Scholastic Junior All-American Award last year for his accomplishments in the classroom and on the golf course.
Three Class of 2023 student-athletes who signed with Division I schools and were recognized earlier in the school year were basketball star Ashley Chea (Princeton University), fencing standout Natalie Leung (Cornell University) and soccer star Chayse Ying (University of Notre Dame).
First published in the June 29 print issue of the Outlook Valley Sun.
