May 18, 2024

OC Sports Zone: Community First

Beckman scholar athletes honored; plus a wrap-up of the other high school winners

Beckman’s award winners included (from left) Rhiannon Do, Bryan Huckleberry, Lauren Drysdale and Bethany Nguyen. (Photo Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).

Beckman High’s scholar athletes were honored Monday at the Pacific Coast League Senior Student Athlete Awards Ceremony at Portola.

To see the slide show, please click on the first photo

It was the first time that Beckman has been involved in the program, presented by the Exchange Club of Irvine, The Tustin Unfied School District and the Irvine Unified School District.

Beckman’s female scholar athletes were:

-Rhiannon Do, who was a four-year basketball player for the Patriots and a captain in her junior and senior years. She will be attending UC Davis in the fall, major in political science with an emphasis on public service.

-Lauren Drysdale, a four-year varsity player for the Beckman girls soccer team. She received first team all-league honors for her junior and senior year and was named the PCL offensive MVP. She will be continuing her academic and soccer career at the United State Military Academy at West Point..

-Gnamitha Naganathanahalli: She was a starter on the Beckman varsity tennis team since her freshman year and was able to finish her senior year by making it to the quarterfinals of the PCL singles tournament. Naganathanahalli was able to achieve the most doubles wins in girls tennis at Beckman. She plans on studying computer science at UC Santa Cruz in the fall.

-Bethany Nguyen, who had a stellar career with the Beckman track and field team, setting four school records. Her records include the 4×100 as a first leg runner, the 100-meter dash, the 200-meter dash and the 4×400 meter dash. She plans on attending the Rhode Island School of Design as a painting major.

Beckman’s male scholar athletes of the year were:

-Bryan Huckleberry, who earned five varsity letters between both football and track. He was an offensive and defensive lineman for all four years and a varsity discus and shot put thrower on the track and field team. In his senior year, he earned second in the PCL for both the shot put and discus and was a CIF Division 1 finalist. He will be attending UC Berkeley where he will double major in astrophysics and data science.

-Lucas Le, who earned three varsity letters in tennis. He participated in the CIF post season three times and earned No. 7 seed in the PCL league finals. He has also been named newcomer of the year and team MVP. He will study chemical engineering at UC Berkeley in the fall.

-Chris Muller, who earned five varsity letters in basketball and volleyball. He participated in the CIF post season four times and helped Beckman’s boys volleyball team capture the PCL title and advance into the semifinal round of the CIF playoffs. In basketball, he was second team all-league. He plans to study computer science at UCI.

-David Sawada, who was a four-year Beckman volleyball player with three years on the varsity. He was on CIF playoff teams all the years he played on varsity and helped Beckman win the PCL title and advance into the semifinal round of the CIF playoffs. He will be attending Point Loma Nazarene University and pursue a degree in health sciences.

Beckman’s scholar athletes of the year were Lauren Drysdale and Bryan Huckleberry and the PCL sportsmanship award winners were Carly Tobias and baseball player Connor McGuire who is headed to UCI to play baseball.

NOTE: Not all athletes were able to stay for a group picture after the program.

To see the stories on the other schools, please click on each link:

Northwood High School

Irvine High School

Woodbridge High School

University High School