Preps Plus: The weekly report

LEADING OFF: El Dorado tight end shifts to RB

Trevor Peterson likely will play tight end at Boise State next year, but this fall the El Dorado High School senior will learn an entirely new offensive position.

The 6-foot-3, 225-pounder will be the featured running back in first-year coach Rick Redding's wing-T attack.

"Some people thought I was a crazy when I first mentioned it," said Redding, who coached last season at Hiram Johnson. "But we have someone who is going to play for a top-20 D-I program that we feel needs to touch the ball at least 20 times a game."

Peterson, a Bee All-Metro second-team selection as a tight end last season, is already making his coach look good.

Redding said Peterson rushed for eight touchdowns, caught five touchdown passes and earned the "Big Camp Stud Award" at the Competitive Edge team football camp last weekend at Cal State Monterey Bay.

"You'd never know by looking at him that he never played running back before," Redding said.

Redding says Peterson is extremely bright – "it's like coaching a 30-year-old" – which is one reason he'll be able to use him at halfback, wingback, fullback and, occasionally, tight end.

Peterson said he likes the move, mainly because it gives him a chance to have a bigger impact for the Cougars, who were 4-6 last season. Peterson caught 58 passes for 964 yards and scored eight touchdowns in 2007.

"I'm pretty excited about it," Peterson said. "I just have to get used to running a little lower."

If Peterson needs any tips, he can call Bill Kramer, his grandfather, who is of similar size and lettered as a fullback at UC Davis in 1965.

The Aggies also tried to lure Peterson with a scholarship offer, but he verbally committed to Boise State on July 2 after making an unofficial visit to the campus three weeks earlier.

"I like the way they use their tight ends, I like the coaches a lot and I like the town," he said of Boise State.

He also received offers from Harvard, Utah and San Diego State.

Peterson said Harvard was intriguing for its Ivy League education, but ultimately too far from home. He said he liked UC Davis coach Bob Biggs but felt the campus was too close to home.

While larger scholarship offers might have been on the horizon, Peterson was pleased to be one of the area's first football players to commit.

"As soon as I made my decision, it was a relief," Peterson said. "Now the focus is on my team and making the playoffs."

HITTING SECOND: Bandilla has some nice options

Recent Bella Vista graduate Bryce Bandilla has a nice fall-back plan if he doesn't sign with the Cincinnati Reds next month.

The 6-foot-4, 235-pound left-hander, a 28th-round draft selection by the Reds in June, has signed a baseball letter of intent with Arizona.

"It's a great program, and they had a bunch of pitchers drafted so there is a better opportunity to start," Bandilla said.

But he hasn't ruled out going pro. Bandilla said the Reds have followed his progress with Fair Oaks Post 383, a Senior American Legion team, and through twice-a-week workouts in Davis and Pleasant Hill. He also has a pivotal bullpen session scheduled for Aug. 5 with Reds scouts in Long Beach.

It is heady stuff for a player who appeared to have only a community college option entering the start of his senior year.

But in earning Bee All-Metro first-team honors, Bandilla dominated area high school hitters, allowing one earned run in 55 innings during the regular season.

"Everything has worked out pretty well," Bandilla said.

END GAME ONE: World class runners

Davis graduate Laurynne Chetelat, who will compete for Stanford this fall, finished sixth in the 3,000 meters at last weekend's IAAF Junior World Track and Field Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

It marked the second time The Bee's cross country and track and field girls athlete of the year represented USA Track and Field on a world team. She ran in the IAAF World Cross Country Meet in Edinburgh, Scotland last March.

A former Bee female track and cross country athlete of the year, 2007 Oak Ridge graduate Alex Kosinski, placed sixth in the 1,500 meters in Poland. She now runs for Oregon.

Chetelat and Kosinski earned world berths with strong performances at last month's U.S. Junior Nationals in Columbus, Ohio. Chetelat won the 3,000. Kosinski placed second to Jordan Hasay of Mission Prep of San Luis Obispo in the 1,500.

END GAME TWO: Commitments and honors

Several area athletes have made late college commitments, received special honors or qualified for important events:

• Jesuit basketball player Andrew Young will play this coming season at Menlo College in Atherton.

• West Campus volleyball player Lauren Koons has signed with Bethany University of Santa Cruz.

• Named to the 2008 Louisville Slugger High School All-American team: Yuba City catcher Max Stassi, first team; Roseville's Derek Benny (pitcher) and Toby DeMello (catcher), honorable mention.

• According to coach Carla Kehoe, Granite Bay's Justin Sutter (long jump), Phillip Gifford (shot put), James Kinloch (discus) and Katie Zingheim (pole vault) have qualified for the USATF National Junior Olympic Championships, Monday through July 28 in Omaha, Neb.

About the writer:

• Call the Bee's Bill Paterson, (916) 326-5506.