Promising futures for Irvine scholars

Former two-time Olympic bronze medal high jumper Dwight Stones gives the scholar athletes a round of applause.

Irvine’s scholar athletes appear to have promising futures after being recognized at the 45th annual Senior Scholar Athlete Awards program at Northwood.

The program was presented by the Exchange Club of Irvine, the Irvine Police Department and the Irvine Unified School District.

Former Olympian Dwight Stones was the master of ceremonies.

IRVINE HIGH SCHOOL

Irvine High’s female athlete of the year was softball and soccer star Trina Hoang, who was selected the captain of both teams her junior and senior year. She was first team all-league in both sports her senior year. Hoang will be attending Harvard University to play Division 1 softball and continue her academic career.

The other female scholar athletes from Irvine were Dan Nguyen, a four year member of the girls golf team an all-league golfer who is headed to Irvine Valley College; Shreya Pavani, a four year varsity starter, No. 1 singles player and senior captain of Irvine’s girls tennis squad who is headed to UC Irvine to continue her tennis career; and Jessica Thompson, a four-year swimmer and two-year varsity water polo player who is headed to UCI to compete with the swim team.

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

Irvine High’s male athlete of the year was Zeke Alleman, who played lacrosse, football and wrestling all four years and was a three-time undefeated league champion. In football, Alleman was first team All-CIF and all-city defensive MVP. In wrestling he was all-county twice and in lacrosse he was team MVP. Alleman, who is headed to Orange Coast College to play football, received the OC Athletic Directors Student Athlete of Character award.

The other male scholar athletes from Irvine were football star Rian Fields, who earned first team all-league and all-city honors and is headed to Fresno State to play football; Tomer Moss, an outstanding swimmer who in his junior year qualified for the CIF finals and finished 15th in the 500 yard freestyle and is going back to Israel where he will serve in the Israeli military; and Parker Weisrock,  three-year varsity letterman in the 182, 195 and 220 pound weight classes who was a CIF finalist in his senior year and had a 39-8 record, earning a spot in the Irvine Vaqueros Wrestling Hall of Fame.

NORTHWOOD HIGH SCHOOL

Northwood’s female scholar athlete of the year was Brooke Kong, who earned 11 varsity letters in volleyball, soccer and track and field and competed in post season CIF seven times, including the CIF finals for soccer. She holds the school and PCL record in the 4×100 relay and was the 2016 PCL individual high jump champion. She plans to study economics at UC Santa Barbara in the fall.

Northwood’s other female scholar athletes were Julia Gonik, an outstanding swimmer who is the school record holder in the 100 breastroke, 400 freestyle relay and 200 medley relay who is headed to MIT; Ashley Lai, a four-year member of the cross country and track and field teams at Northwood who helped the Timberwolves win PCL titles and advance to the CIF (she is headed to NYU to compete in cross country and track); and Erin Matsutsuyu, a four year basketball standout who was first team all-league her last three years and broke the record for most career points with 1,699.

Northwood’s male athlete of the year was Jacob Huynh, a four-year varsity starter who set most scoring records at the school and led the Timberwolves to the Pacific Coast League title and into the quarterfinals of the CIF playoffs. Huynh scored 1,638 points in his career, was the MVP of the PCL, second team all-CIF and second team all-county. He is headed to San Francisco State University to play basketball.

Northwood’s other male scholar athletes were Declan Holder, a four-year varsity volleyball player who was first team all-league in his junior year and led the Timberwolves into the CIF playoffs and a 6-4 league record his senior year; Derek Kim, who had an outstanding golf career at Northwood and is headed to Columbia University next fall to play golf; and Malcom Overbaugh, who earned five varsity letters in soccer and track and field and is headed to UC Irvine to study mechanical engingeering in the fall.

UNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOL

University’s female athlete of the year was Paige Metayer, who lettered in both soccer and track since her freshman year. In three years competing in track, Metayer never lost a league race and captured seven league titles while earning three league MVP awards. Metayer plans on playing for the women’s soccer team at UC Berkeley.

University’s other female scholar athletes were Ashley Chandler, a four-year varsity basketball player and two-year varsity lacrosse player who helped the Trojans capture the PCL basketball title and who plans to major in Marine Biology; Lorena Egea, who qualified for the state championships in wrestling all three years she competed and as a senior, placed first in the Southern Section and fourth in the state (She will attend UC Davis with a Biological Sciences major); and Alondra Ortiz, who lettered in all four years she competed in swimming and competed in the CIF championships and made it the finals every year since she was a sophomore (she plans on swimming for Cal State East Bay).

University’s male scholar athlete of the year was Jackson Muniz, who was a two-year varsity started in baseball, basketball and football and who will attend San Diego State University majoring in business administration. He earned numerous team awards throughout his high school career and was named most valuable defensive back his senior year.

University’s other male scholar athletes were Alex Bray, a standout boys basketball player who earned first team all-league and all city numerous times and who will attend the Air Force Academy in the fall; Jeremy Koo, who helped University capture the CIF championship in boys soccer and who also was the distance MVP in track and field and was on the 4×100 relay team that won league, went to the CIF finals and broke the school record (he plans to attend UCI and major in computer science); and Patrick Kozlowski, who led the University boys tennis team to two CIF semifinals and one quarterfinal and earned all-league and all-county honors (he will play tennis at Cal Tech).

WOODBRIDGE HIGH SCHOOL

Woodbridge’s female scholar athlete of the year was Rachel Glasl, who was on the Warriors’ varsity soccer team for four years. She was the captain of the team the last two years and was also a member of ASB for two years. She will be attending Cal Poly San Luis Obispo to study communications and political science.

Woodbridge’s other female scholar athletes were Jelena Pompay, who played for the Warrior lacrosse team, was captain of the team and plans to attend Cal Poly to major in architecture and play on the club lacrosse team in college; Hannah Sasaki, a star player on Woodbridge’s PCL championship softball player who was first team all-league and earned a scholarship to University of Illinois; and Tessa Shimizu,  a four-year varsity basketball player who will be attending UC Berkeley and majoring in English.

Woodbridge’s male scholar athlete was Wesley Park, a standout on the Warriors’ water polo team. He was also on the Woodbridge swim team. In his freshman year, he earned the school’s rookie of the year award and in his junior and senior years, he earned first team all-league honors in water polo.

Woodbridge’s other male scholar athletes were Scott Armstrong, a standout on the Warriors baseball team and the starter for the last two years (he plans to attend Saddleback College to play baseball); Travis Har, an outstanding wrestler who became a CIF inland division placer and competed in the Southern Section Master’s Tournament (he plans to attend Cal State Fullerton and major in accounting and financing); and Jonathan Jim, a standout with the Woodbridge football team who will be attending Irvine Valley College and transferring to USC with transfer admission.