La Conner student-athletes sign college letters of intent

They have the same name but play different games.

But both will be taking those games to the next level.

La Conner High School seniors Emma Worgum and Emma Keller signed letters of intent last month to compete collegiately next year in their respective sports.

Worgum signed with the Western Washington University women’s golf program. Keller committed to playing volleyball at Edmonds Community College.

Worgum has been a state tournament caliber golfer and top entrant on the Washington junior circuit, playing a dozen or more major events each summer.

The daughter of Debra Lekanoff, the lone Native American woman serving in the state legislature and David Worgum, who was instrumental in introducing her to the sport, she makes Swinomish Golf Links her home course.

She was named the Skagit Valley area’s top high school girls’ golfer across all enrollment classifications her freshman year, in the spring of 2019.

Since then, has consistently scored in the 70s and will be a welcome addition for Western, which boasts global talent under head coach Luke Bennett.

The Vikings, who compete in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, have players from Sweden, New Zealand, California and the Pacific Northwest.

In August, Worgum placed second to two-time winner Shandiin Harper of the Navajo Nation at the Notah Begay, III Native Youth Golf Championship at the Santa Ana Golf Club near Albuquerque.

Harper, a Western New Mexico University recruit, carded a 148 for the 36-hole, two-day event, launched in 2020 by Begay, a Native American professional golfer who is a four-time PGA Tour winner and former Stanford University teammate of Tiger Woods.

Worgum shot 151, three strokes back. Another top entrant, Chickasaw citizen Beans Factor, finished at 158.

Afterward, Harper praised Worgum and Factor as “amazing” players in an interview with the Navajo Times.

“They’re so good at playing golf,” said Harper, “so I had to play great to win.”

Keller, a 5’-7” setter, will join Edmonds after having helped lead La Conner to the 2021 State 2B Volleyball championship. The team swept four straight state tourney matches at the Yakima Sun Dome in November, with Keller fueling the attack.

She finished the season with 806 assists, an average of just over nine per set. Keller totaled 235 digs, 49 service aces and 40 kills in a year the team went undefeated in its regular season matches – though frequently paired against teams from larger schools – and 2B playoff contests.

Keller succeeded Justine Benson, who now plays for Bellevue College, as setter this fall. Coached by Tony Miranda, Edmonds – like Bellevue – plays in the Northwest Athletic Conference.

“I went to their prospect camp and got to know their program and instantly clicked with the girls,” she told the Weekly News. “Coach Miranda’s big goal for his athletes is helping them play beyond community college, to go to a four-year school and that’s something I’m really striving for.”

Keller, who intends majoring in a field related to psychology – “perhaps art therapy or special education,” she said – also participates in track and field as a sprinter and triple jumper as well as summer beach volleyball.

“I feel like beach volleyball especially helps me with my vertical (leap) and just overall makes me feel so much stronger coming into the season,” said Keller. “I play club volleyball during my track season, so I feel like it keeps me in good shape for that, too.”

Keller has played for state Hall of Fame head coach Suzanne Marble and her mom, assistant coach Pam Keller, who played on the school’s first state tournament entry.

“My mom and coach Marble have always pushed me to be my best,” she said. “They have always been major female role models for me to look up to growing up. They shaped me to be the player and person that I am today.”

Her dad, Dustin Keller, has also been a big part of the equation, she said.

She and Worgum are of a like mind as each prepares for her next big step.

“I’ve been starting to go to the weight room every day with Emma Worgum, who has signed with Western to play golf,” said Keller, “so we’ve been pushing each other to train.”

As the two Emmas push, their many supporters here are pulling for their success.