San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
THEY STAR IN CLASS, TOO
The eight selected carry high GPAS with difficult course loads while volunteering their time to others
Sibling rivalry is not uncommon. Some psychologists believe competition among brothers and sisters can help children learn to share, compromise and negotiate with others.
High school water polo All-american Sierra Martin, the San Diego Section Player of the Year, has some experience with this. Two of her three younger brothers also play water polo. Martin admits there’s always been jockeying for athletic and academic top-dog status. This rivalry is especially pronounced between the senior and her 16-year-old brother, Jack. Sometimes, however, it’s just a draw. Like Sierra for the girls, Jack earned Player of the Year honors for boys water polo in the fall.
Sierra Martin, who has a 4.53 GPA and scored a 1,510 on the SAT placement exam, including a perfect 800 on the verbal section, led Bishop’s to three section Open Division titles. In the fall, she will be attending Brown, where she’ll play Division I water polo for the Ivy League team.
Her résumé includes Advanced Placement calculus, AP comparative government, AP psychology, AP biology, AP U.S. history, AP French and AP European history. She’s been recognized as an AP Scholar with Distinction, is a College of William & Mary Leadership Award recipient and member of the French National Honors Society.
Martin’s favorite subject is psychology, specifically the developmental and abnormal branches. She’d like to become a clinical psychologist.
She has used her academic prowess as a volunteer with the Bishop’s peer tutoring program in a variety of subjects but favors working as a teaching assistant for
a sixth-grade English class.
Martin has been selected as one of eight U-T All-academic Team Captains for winter sports. The captain’s plaque represents each sport’s Academic Athlete of the Year.
On Wednesday, The San Diego Union-tribune recognized 4,400 high school juniors and seniors as members of the All-academic Team for maintaining a 3.0 or higher cumulative, weighted GPA while playing a California Interscholastic Federation-approved varsity sport. Selection of the captains, made by the U-T staff, was based on academic and athletic achievement, and overall leadership.
ROLLER HOCKEY Trevor Fune, Hilltop
A four-time honor-roll member, Fune is considering Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Cal State Long Beach and San Diego State to pursue a degree in kinesiology, followed by a master’s in sports medicine to become a physician’s assistant.
Fune, who has a 4.35 GPA and scored a 1,420 on the SAT, will have completed seven AP and three honors classes by graduation. He favors AP chemistry and AP calculus. The multisport athlete chose wrestling for a winter sport his freshman year. But three weeks into the season, he switched to roller hockey. Fune led Hilltop to two Mesa League titles, twice was selected first-team All-metro Conference and won the district scoring title his senior year with 120 points (85 goals, 35 assists). He hopes to play club ice hockey in college. He also has played football and lacrosse.
Fune has earned 120-plus hours of community service, volunteering at the Chula Vista Public Library and assisting the youth pastor at Eastlake Church.
BOYS BASKETBALL AJ Burgin, San Diego
The All-san Diego Section pick has been the Cavers’ basketball captain for two years, on the honor roll for three and carries a 4.0 GPA. The junior is taking International Baccalaureate physics, honors precalculus, IB theory of knowledge, AP language and composition and AP U.S. history. He’s a selftaught pianist and has dabbled with the violin and alto saxophone.
It’s safe to assume that before Burgin played in the section championship game, in which he scored 31 points and pulled down 18 rebounds with nine assists to help the Cavers win their third straight title, his hair was silky soft. Before every game, the superstitious Burgin conditions his hair.
“If I don’t condition, I don’t play well,” he said.
Burgin has received basketball scholarship offers at Idaho State and Point Loma Nazarene. The NBA, however, is his ultimate dream.
Burgin has performed 40-plus hours of community service at a local senior center.
GIRLS BASKETBALL Mackenzie Curtis, El Capitan
Heading into her freshman year, the All-san Diego Section choice set two goals: to get straight A’s and to make the varsity basketball team. But while working on her game in the preseason, Curtis broke her dominant right hand and was in a cast for six weeks. She learned to shoot with her left and now is skilled at both.
She made the varsity squad but didn’t get straight A’s. Her art teacher deemed her left-hand drawing ability average. Her C grade is Curtis’ only one to date.
The junior, who is taking physics and AP U.S. history, has a 3.94 GPA. She is being recruited by USD, Cal State Long Beach, New Mexico, Fresno State, UC Santa Barbara and UC Riverside. She plans on pursuing an education major to become a teacher. Curtis coaches young girls in basketball and tutors kids in the community.
BOYS SOCCER Jake Kosakoff, Torrey Pines
The National Merit Scholarship finalist, 2020 Presidential Scholar award candidate, section Player of the Year and captain of Torrey Pines’ Open Division championship team has a 4.5 GPA.
He scored a perfect 36 on his ACT, a feat achieved by just 0.195 percent of test-takers. He is carrying courses in calculus, AP physics, AP English literature, AP government/ AP economics, honors chemistry and college-level math. His favorite subjects are math and physics.
Kosakoff usually goes to bed before 9 p.m. to ensure he can perform at his best. His friends call him an “old man,” but he shrugs that off.
Kosakoff is considering UCSD or Stanford to study applied math and play soccer. Coming from a soccer family — his dad is a coach and brother Charlie is a teammate — has helped Kosakoff develop a high level of awareness and understanding of the game. He relays that knowledge while teaching soccer skills to children at the Boys & Girls Club.
GIRLS SOCCER Christina Espinosa, Del Norte
When the All-san Diego Section pick was a sophomore, she joined Ecofuture, an environmental club. She traveled to Asia, South America and Europe where she observed the consequences of ignoring the environment. In India, air pollution affected her lungs and interfered with her running. She contracted a bacterial infection from the Arabian Sea.
Espinosa intends to study environmental engineering in college. Her career goal is to become an engineer and construct sustainable buildings with the potential to remove 54.5 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent from the atmosphere.
To date, Espinosa has been accepted to SDSU, Virginia Tech and Arizona’s Honors College. Espinosa, who has a 4.22 GPA and scored 1,440 on the SAT, is taking three AP courses: statistics, computer science and U.S. government.
She is a longtime member of National Charity League, a philanthropic organization. Through NCL, Espinosa has served the San Diego Humane Society, American Cancer Society, the Poway Senior Center and Palomar Hospital.
BOYS WRESTLING Jason Miranda, Poway
The San Diego Section masters meet champion, three-time California state placer and two-time Allamerican is also a community servant and academic achiever. Miranda volunteers with Best Pals, a group that spends quality time with special-needs students. The annual highlight is the “Best Buddies Ball,” a formal dance for the district’s special-needs students.
“Seeing the joy that the dance brings them is truly humbling,” said Miranda.
He is also a member of Titan Ambassadors, a group of 20 seniors that shares the embodiment of the Six Pillars of Character to elementary schoolchildren.
The National Honor Society member has a 4.20 GPA and is headed to Stanford, where he’ll continue his wrestling career and pursue a degree in human biology for a career as a physician’s assistant or doctor. He also considered Cal Poly, the Naval Academy, Harvard and Columbia. This year, he is carrying four AP classes.
GIRLS WRESTLING Jasmin Ballesteros, Montgomery
The 5-foot-10, two-sport athlete has a 4.33 GPA. Ballesteros, who also is a three-year varsity volleyball player, reached the final four at the San Diego Section masters meet at 152 pounds and is a twotime state qualifier.
Ballesteros, who wants to pursue a career in psychology, wasn’t planning on participating in sports her freshman year until her brother began hounding her about it. He was relentless, and then offered her a carrot. Miguel Ballesteros said for every wrestling medal his sister earned, he would buy a gift of her choice. The first day of practice, Jasmin threw up on the mat. She stuck with it, winning a dozen medals and a haul reminiscent of Christmas morning.
Ballesteros’ course load includes AP computer science and AP statistics, a college-level psychology class and honors English. The fourtime honor-roll member plans to wrestle at the next level on a scholarship.