WINNEMUCCA - If you know Julia Dufurrena or Jace Billingsley they may be two of the quietest people you would run into. But the Lowry High School seniors can easily turn the switch to a different mode once they walk on the floor, wrestling mat or football field.
The Buckaroo duo enjoyed successful high school careers and have made that next step in their life by signing letter of intents to go to College of Southern Idaho (Twin Falls, Idaho) and Eastern Oregon University, (LaGrande, Ore.) respectively.
Dufurrena, who was named the Nevada 3A Girls Basketball Player of the Year this season, averaged 17 points and 11 rebounds a game. She helped the Lady Bucks to a 17-6 record, which included a 34-point performance at White Pine and a 29-point game at Pershing County. As a sophomore in 2010, Dufurrena was a first-team, all-league and all-state selection, as the Lady Bucks won their fifth state title with an overtime win over Spring Creek at Lawlor Events Center in Reno.
"It is a huge relief to have this off my shoulders and have everything figured out," Dufurrena said. "It has been a struggle the last couple of years but it is definitely worth it and I am glad I found CSI."
It was an up and down last couple of years for Dufurrena and the Lowry basketball program. The Lady Bucks have missed out on the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time since the late 1990s. Dufurrena also saw the strains of recruiting, as some bigger schools had her on the radar but would just offer her a chance to walk on to the team.
"CSI is the place for me and I knew that when I went up there," Dufurrena said. "I love the environment, the girls and coaches. I did not want to walk on to a four-year college."
College of Southern Idaho has been coached by Randy Rogers since the 2002-03 season. He also coached at Spring Creek High School in the 1990s and had a number of meetings against Lowry. The Golden Eagles suffered through the injury bug last year on their way to a 15-16 record. College of Southern Idaho played for the Junior College national championship in 2005, losing to Central Arizona College.
"When I first started at CSI, I went with what I knew in Nevada girls," Rogers said. "I have always thought that players in Nevada were going unnoticed by other schools. We have seen what Julia has done at camps here as well as on the basketball floor. She is a great competitor and you talk to other coaches and they will tell you that."
Dufurrena is receiving a full ride scholarship to the two-year school and is looking to study nursing and eventually become a pediatric nurse. In high school Dufurrena was mostly a post player but this past summer she played with a club team out of Salt Lake City, Utah, and started developing an outside shot and taking over some guard responsibilities. She will likely play at the three or four spot on the floor for the Golden Eagles.
"I know it will be difficult to mix sports and a pediatric program so I will look to do all my required classes first," Dufurrena said. "It is a big step from high school. It is a little scary but I am ready for it. It was a big help to play in Salt Lake and six of my teammates are playing in the same conference."
Dufurrena, a two-sport athlete at Lowry, has a 3.9 grade point average, and has picked up a number of awards off the field. During the state basketball tournament she gave two speeches to the Nevada Athletic Director's Association conference in Reno as one of the winners of the NADA scholarship. The other winner was Billingsley; however he was on his recruiting trip to Oregon at the time. Dufurrena also read his speech to the Nevada athletic directors.
It was just announced as well that Dufurrena and Billingsley were named to the NIAA Top 10 Student of the Year for northern Nevada. It is the first time that two Lowry students have been chosen for the award in the same year.
"Julia is kind of a hidden gem," Rogers said. "Julia knows and understands she has to improve. The first step in that is the work ethic and mindset to do that and I saw that in her right away. She is quiet but works hard on the floor and I will take that every time. We are here to win games, get to the national tournament and get 25-plus wins a year. I believe she is a girl that can help us do that."
Billingsley, a three-sport star at Lowry, has set a number of school records and had his choice of playing football or wrestling at the next level. The gridiron was his choice over the wrestling mat when he began his senior season. He has also been a part of the Lowry baseball team for four seasons, helping the Buckaroos to the state semifinals this past spring.
"It's nice to finally know where I am going and to have the whole recruiting thing over," Billingsley said. "I am pretty excited about it. I was always debating what I wanted to do. At the start of this year, I decided to lean towards more football than wrestling."
Billingsley was named the Northern 3A and 3A State Player of the Year. He rushed for 2,360 yards and 30 touchdowns in 201 carries. He had a long run of 92 yards in the opening game of the season, a 70-6 win over Battle Mountain.
The Buckaroos had their best season on the field since 1992, going 9-3 overall. Lowry reached the state semifinals, losing 19-6 to Moapa Valley. In 2010, Lowry also reached the state semifinals against Moapa Valley, where Billingsley rushed for 2,387 yards and 27 touchdowns.
"He is a great player and a great kid," said Eastern Oregon head coach Timothy Camp. "I pray everyday my two kids grow up like him. He is an elite player and we can put him on the field in a number of different spots and be productive for us."
The Mountaineers have brought in a strong recruiting class and are coming off one of their best seasons in school history at 8-3, which included a 41-33 win over Carroll College, the No. 1 team in the nation. Eastern Oregon is a member of the NAIA and plays in the Cascade Collegiate Conference.
"We have been nationally ranked in the past few years and are still working on getting better," Camp said. "We feel Jace can be a big part of our program. I think he will be a great fit into the community, the classroom and program and we got a steal there. He is a great kid in the classroom and off the field and that is the kind of person we are looking for at Eastern Oregon. We are ready to get him up here."
While Billingsley starred on the football field, he was just as good on the wrestling mat. He became the first Buckaroo wrestler to win four individual championships in school history. He was part of four team state championships at Lowry and was 59-2 this season on his way to 223 career wins. The 223 wins are a state record as well, surpassing Lowry graduate Buster Segura.
"We knew he was just as good or better on the wrestling mat and he could have gone that direction," Camp said. "He is just that kind of athlete that will succeed in anything he does."
Billingsley said he has not decided what he wanted to study at Eastern Oregon and is looking to settle in first.
"It is a huge jump but I am ready and excited for it," Billingsley said. "I was told to be ready to play in different spots on offense. I need to do a lot of work this summer but I am ready to get going."
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