(First in a series)
Scholar athletes in the Pacific Coast League were honored in a virtual ceremony last week.
The program is held annually at an Irvine high school, but this year had to go to a virtual format because of the coronavirus pandemic.
OC Sports Zone will be running recognition of the scholar athletes by school, starting first with Portola High School. The comments by Athletic Director Katie Levansailor were included in the program.
To see the slide show of Portola’s award winners, please click on the first photo
SHAIVI BANDATMAKUR: “Shaivi Bandatmakur has earned two varsity letters in water polo. She fell in love with water polo after her first high school practice and stuck with it for four years. Her awards for water polo include top dog (award), most dedicated female athlete, and MVP (freshmen to senior year). She has been given the honor of serving as captain for four years and received the honor of second team after her junior and senior seasons. She has also served on leadership boards for the Second Harvest, Wounded Warrior, and Make-a-Wish clubs at Portola. Shaivi Bandatmakur has achieved a 4.48 weighted GPA (4.0 unweighted) and will study Human Biology at UC San Diego this fall in hopes of becoming a pediatrician in the future.”
DONIA MAYMOUN: “Donia Maymoun earned three varsity letters across both basketball and track and field. She participated in the second round of CIF (playoffs) her senior year. For track and field she earned a top dog award recognizing her pride values and athletic seasons. For basketball, she won best defensive player across all sports at Portola and was a four-year captain. She was also ranked as first for rebounds in all of Orange County with an average of 19.7 rebounds per game and a total of 493 rebounds, cumulatively, her senior season. She was also honored to be part of the first team all league this year….and received a top dog award. Donia has a 4.25 GPA and will study biology at UC Irvine this fall.”
MADDY NOH: “Madelyn Noh earned three varsity letters in volleyball and basketball. Her basketball team advanced to the second round of CIF this season. Maddy developed her love for volleyball through playing with her family at Mile Square Park and decided to continue her developed passion by playing in high school. A friend encouraged her to tryout for basketball freshman year and Maddy was immediately hooked. Maddy served as a team captain in both sports. She was named top dog for basketball in 2019 and awarded best on and off the field athlete at the Portola ESPY awards. Maddy served as the photo editor and co-editor-in-chief of the school yearbook. She also received the Bulldogs Excellence Award for Service. Maddy has a 4.10 GPA and will be studying biology at Marquette University this fall.”
ALLISON SHI: “Allison Shi is a founding member of Portola’s girls’ tennis team and has been a part of the team for four years, two of those years being varsity. She started playing tennis through her local team tennis program and quickly developed a love for the sport. Throughout her four years, she has played in both singles and doubles. During her senior year, she participated in the CIF post season and with her team, clinched the CIF-SS Division III championship title. She received the top dog award from her coach in 2017 and 2019, and she was nominated for the Best Female Scholar Athlete ESPY award. In high school, she was involved in multiple clubs, ASB, the IUSD Student Board, and Portola Singers. Allison has a 4.43 GPA and will study psychology and linguistics at Duke University this fall.”
JEFFREY CHEN: “Jeffrey Chen was part of both varsity basketball and volleyball programs. For basketball, he received the PCL second team all league award in both his junior and senior years. He was also co-captain in his senior year and helped lead the team to Portola High School basketball’s first PCL league championship. For volleyball, he was MVP in both freshman and sophomore year and served as co-captain in freshman and senior year. In his junior year, he received a Pacific Coast League all-league honorable mention. In his sophomore year, he was nominated by the school to represent Portola at the Orange County Athletic Directors Association ceremony and received the Student Athlete of Character Award. In his junior year, he also received the Bulldog All Sport Booster ESPY Award for Best Male Scholar Athlete. He was heavily involved in student government. Jeffrey will study Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of California at Berkeley in the fall.”
ALEX CHERRY: “Alex Cherry earned two varsity letters for water polo, one each from junior and senior year. He has also received two Portola Top Dog awards, was the water polo team MVP his freshman year, and has also received the scholar-athlete patch. Alex was the captain of the varsity water polo team in his junior year. Alex has a 4.21 GPA and will study microbiology at Brigham Young University this fall.”
JAMISON KING: “As a two year varsity letterman and team captain, Jamison King is one of six Bulldogs who anchored the Portola Baseball program from its inception in 2017. As a starting pitcher, infielder and outfielder, Jamison’s other baseball accolades include: 2019 Cy Young Award, first team All-League PCL, and CBCA All Southern Section senior. Jamison was the PCL strikeout leader in 2019 and was on the pitching stat leaderboards again in 2020. He also holds Portola’s record for single game strikeouts with 16. Jamison has been recognized by his teachers with several Bulldog Pride value awards over the years for both Respect and Integrity. He received Genius Project Awards in both 2018 and 2019 and was a member of the team that won the 10th grade Pehrson Innovation Award in 2018. He is a member of the Saddleback High School Ministry where he has served as a Youth Leader for the Irvine South Campus Main Events during the summers, an Eagle Scout, and a member of the Irvine North Chapter of the National League of Young Men, earning several philanthropic awards including the 2018 Gold Presidential Volunteer Service Award. Jamison has a 4.20 GPA and will be continuing his academics and baseball career at Concordia University, Irvine in the fall.”
KAVEH WOJTOWICH: “Kaveh has played football and soccer for all four years, while also playing volleyball and track and field for three years. Kaveh was the first four-sport athlete at PHS, and earned the PHS Male Athlete of the Year award last year at the 2019 ESPY Awards. Kaveh held a leadership role on the 2019 football league championship team while earning first team all-league football in both 2018 and 2019 in two positions, as well as first team all-city both years. Kaveh was the team MVP in 2018, was the defensive player of the year for the league champion 2019 team, and has been the offensive player of the year. He also was a recipient of the NFF and College Hall of Fame Scholar-Athlete Award this year. In volleyball, Kaveh earned an all-league honorable mention. Kaveh is also on the 4×100 school record holding team in track and field. Kaveh served two years in ASB, was the vice president of the Indoor Soccer Club, and participated in many clubs and community service activities. He has a 4.28 academic GPA and 1510 SAT and will be playing football while studying mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University this fall.”
After the introductions Levensailor said that Shaivi Bandatmakur, the water polo standout and Kaveh Wojtowich, the multi-sport star, were named the school’s top scholar athletes.
Lauren Hwang (tennis) and Kai Horn (football and track) received the PCL sportsmanship awards.
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