Multidimensional man
Inside the classroom or on the ballfield, Simi Valley's Chance Cross shines
By Steve Ames Special to the Simi Valley Acorn

Chance Cross

His goal was to attend an Ivy League school and, after making visits to Harvard, Yale and Princeton universities, the decision for Chance Cross of Simi Valley High was an easy one: Princeton University.

The 6foot1, 190pound senior two-sport athlete will head east to the New Jerseybased campus to play football this fall. He also hopes to try out for the baseball team.

"At Princeton, I felt more at home," Cross said. "When I was talking with the players they all seemed like they were a close group. It reminded me a lot of my baseball and football teams (the way) they hang out.

"And their campus is amazing. The fields are all top-notch. It just felt like it was a good place to spend four years of my life."

Cross, who played strong safety on the Pioneer football team and left field on the Marmonte League co-champion baseball squad, plans to major in economics.

"I took economics this year and that was really interesting to me," he said, "so that's what I'm going to major in, then hopefully I will go on to law school. I want to be a sports agent."

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers MAKING PLAYS- Pioneer left fielder Chance Cross charges a ball during Marmonte League play. Simi Valley earned a co-league championship this season, splitting the title with Thousand Oaks.

Matt La Belle, Simi Valley's head baseball coach, said Cross being accepted to attend Princeton has earned him a new nickname.

"We call him 'Ivy' because he's going to the Ivy League," the athletic director and head baseball coach said.

"Anytime we need something answered that I'm not smart enough to answer, we call Ivy over and get the answer."

Todd Borowski, Simi Valley's head football coach, was impressed with Cross as he went through the recruiting process.

"I'm sitting there listening to the Harvard coach, the Yale coach, the Princeton coach- nice choices to have in life because these guys are fighting over you. They don't just fight over ordinary people," he said.

With Cross on the football team, it was like having another coach on the field, Borowski said.

Cross' stats are indicative of his contributions: During his junior season he made 59 tackles and had two interceptions, and as a senior, he made 85 tackles and picked off two passes.

Off the field, Borowski said Cross is "just an A-1 quality person."

La Belle echoed Borowski's thoughts.

"It's a good thing when you have a good kid who doesn't get in trouble," La Belle said. "At the same time, he's also very solid on the athletic field. That's a pretty all-around kid in high school."

Cross enjoys the fact that he's been able to play sports with many of the same friends for much of his life.

"I played T-ball on the Santa Susana team that won the 1998 Pinto World Series. We have about six of those kids on this (Simi Valley baseball) team," he said.

The players included Brent Keys, Jonathan Meyer, Matt Orloff and Teddy Smoyer.

"We've all known each other a long time, so we're pretty comfortable with this team," Cross said.

Cross said his style of play is to keep everybody at ease.

"When we're playing well, we're all relaxed," he said. "It seems that when we tense up, everybody's trying to do their own thing. I just try to keep it relaxed around the field."

With graduation quickly approaching on June 12, Cross has begun to turn some of his focus toward college and moving 2,770 miles from home, where he's scheduled to begin a summer program on July 12.

"When I went to Princeton they were talking about it's the 40year plan- not just the fouryear plan- going to school," Cross said. "Even when you graduate from there, and you get a great education, it's all the networking that goes along with it.

"There are people in high places. I just figured going to a school like that, you are pretty much set. I'll be playing football in Division I, so that's pretty exciting. I just think that's good for me."