Niko Salazar
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As a high school freshman, Otay Ranch's Niko Salazar set lofty goals for himself.
Among them, Salazar wanted to represent the Mustangs at the State Track & Field Championships in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles.
His first year, he ran fast enough to qualify for the San Diego Section prelims. Two seasons later, he advanced to the section finals.
With one last chance as a senior, Salazar earned the ticket he had been waiting for with a second-place finish at the section championships.
“It means a lot,” said Salazar, also an All-Mesa League defensive back in football.
“Working so hard for a goal has taught me to never give up on anything and just stay focused on whatever I want to do.”
That drive has translated into the classroom, where Salazar is ranked near the top of his senior class of 770. He is undecided about college, weighing scholarship options, but he is interested in studying fire science with a dream of becoming a firefighter.
Salazar is among 13 Captains named to the Union-Tribune All-Academic Team for spring high school sports. The Captain's award represents each sport's Student-Athlete of the Year.
In Sunday's editions, the Union-Tribune recognized 6,006 juniors and seniors as members of the All-Academic Team for maintaining a 3.0 or higher cumulative grade-point average while playing a California Interscholastic Federation-approved varsity sport.
Selection of the Captains and the 118 members of the All-Academic First Teams was based on academic and athletic achievement and overall leadership.
Thoraya Maronesy
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Girls track
Thoraya Maronesy, Helix
Finishing third in the section meet as a sophomore was a huge accomplishment for Maronesy. But with that came pressure.
“It's a weird feeling,” explained Maronesy, who is ranked near the top of her class of 350. “I would always think that, since I (performed well in past years), I should do better this year.”
Facing stiff competition from a talented group of underclassmen, Maronesy managed to finish on top, winning the triple jump this spring and advancing to the state meet. Maronesy was the only senior girl to win an individual section title.
The two-time team MVP, who played soccer and field hockey for the Highlanders, is headed to San Diego State in the fall. She will run track and study civil engineering.
Boys tennis
Bradley Klahn, Poway
Bradley Klahn
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A year after winning the section individual championship, Klahn was missing from this year's bracket. Days after leading the Titans to their second straight team title, Klahn was in France competing in the French Open juniors.
“It's a great end to the season,” Klahn said after Poway's victory.
Even without competing in the section individual tournament, there is no question Klahn is one of the area's top tennis talents. The No. 1 U.S. player in the boys-18 age division has competed in juniors at the U.S. Open twice and Australian Open once.
Before heading to Stanford, Klahn is scheduled to play at Wimbledon.
Said Klahn earlier this year: “You always strive to be the best you can be. I've just kept working hard, and it's paid off. But being No. 1 in the nation, I know there's still a lot more that I can improve on.”
Badminton
Tinh Nguyen, Hoover
Tinh Nguyen
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Standing a petite 5 feet, 1 inch, Nguyen doesn't look like a dominant high school athlete. But put a badminton racket in her hands, and she's tough to match.
Nguyen led the Cardinals to their sixth team championship in eight years before finishing as runner-up in girls singles and doubles.
“(The team title) meant most to me,” said Nguyen, who hopes someday to be a veterinarian.
Ranked 11th in a class of 335, Nguyen won a $25,000 scholarship to San Diego State, where she would like to study biology. First, though, she is considering continuing her badminton career at City College, home of the three-time state champion Knights.
Baseball
Brian Humphries, Granite Hills
Brian Humphries
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While his classmates are focused on prom, graduation and packing for college, Humphries said he's thinking about something else.
“The (pro baseball draft) is the only thing on my mind,” said Humphries, who is rated the No. 32 prospect in the nation by Baseball America magazine. “It's a life decision. Whatever decision I make is going to change my life.”
Either way, Humphries has prepared himself. Excelling in academics and athletics has opened the door to an athletic scholarship to Pepperdine, where he would study history.
Softball
Rachel Brown, Scripps Ranch
Rachel Brown
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There wasn't a softball pitcher in the region who was more dominant than Brown, who set a section record for strikeouts in a season with 400.
As much as the Harvard-bound athlete gives in the pitcher's circle, she also takes time to give back to the sport.
Brown works as an umpire for the Scripps Ranch Softball Association and offers pitching lessons to young girls eager to follow in her footsteps.
“I kind of grew up in the SRSA softball league, spending Saturdays at the field and saving up my snack bar tickets. My parents encouraged me to give back to the league when I got older,” said Brown, who scored 2,050 on the SAT and is ranked 11th in her class of 490. “I've loved staying involved in the league, and (the Scripps Ranch fields) will always feel like my second home.”
Boys volleyball
Matthew Jones, La Jolla
Matthew Jones
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It's been a busy year for Jones.
First, he helped lead the Vikings to a section title in basketball, advancing to the state playoffs.
With little rest, the Harvard-bound athlete moved to the volleyball court, anchoring an effort that led to a championship in that sport, too.
The Division III Volleyball Player of the Year said he was influenced on and off the court by former teammate Andrew Heap, who graduated last year and now attends BYU.
“I have always been motivated to work as hard as him and excel on and off the court like he did,” said Jones, who scored 2,190 on the SAT and is ranked second in a class of more than 400.
Gymnastics
Tina Lu, Westview
Tina Lu
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From age 7, Lu has spent 20 hours a week practicing the piano.
Lu spends just as much time in the gym, developing the skills necessary to place her at the top of her sport.
The section optional all-around champion, Lu, who aspires to be a physician, has time-management down to a science.
“I always had to manage my time and remain efficient,” said Lu, who scored 2,280 on the SAT and is ranked 10th in a class of 550. “I had to list my priorities, with school and academics always at the top of the list.”
After interning in the UCSD Cancer Research Lab last summer, Lu will be spending her college career on the La Jolla campus. The National Merit Scholarship Winner plans to study bioengineering.
Boys swimming
Tyler Hoffman, Carlsbad
Tyler Hoffman
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When he needed a little push, Hoffman has never had to look far for motivation.
In the pool, it was teammate Spencer DiDio, whom Hoffman said, “has been a big role model.” In the classroom, it was friends Clay Johnson and Jeff Wang.
“Since elementary school, we have always competed for the highest grades,” said Hoffman, who scored 1,950 on the SAT and is ranked in the top 3 percent of his class.
One-fourth of the Lancers' record-setting 200-yard medley relay team, Hoffman has played violin for the Carlsbad Strings Association for the past 10 years.
Before heading off to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where he plans to study mechanical engineering, Hoffman hopes to spend the summer as a Carlsbad State Beach lifeguard.
Girls swimming
Caitlin Keenan, Cathedral Catholic
Caitlin Keenan
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When Keenan crossed the stage at Saturday's graduation, she did so as class salutatorian.
“I really enjoyed being challenged inside and outside the classroom, so this award is a nice recognition that I met the challenge,” said Keenan, who scored 2,290 on the SAT.
Months from now, Keenan, who lives in Encinitas, will be headed to Dartmouth. She plans to study biology with an emphasis in premed and continue swimming after leading the Dons to a section championship.
She credits her father, Ted, for being her greatest role model. Keenan has tried to pass that support along, teaching swimming lessons, volunteering with the school's campus ministry and serving as swim team captain.
Boys lacrosse
George Shafer, Torrey Pines
George Shafer
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Few challenges are tougher in sports than winning a championship on an opponent's home field.
The 2007 season ended with a victory for the Falcons over rival La Costa Canyon on the Mavericks' campus, a triumph Shafer said ranks as the proudest moment of his high school career.
“It was a tremendous way to top off a long season,” said Shafer, who scored 2,150 on the SAT.
Also known as Geordie, Shafer started his lacrosse career in middle school. For the past three years he has coached young players eager to pick up the game. He will continue playing next year at Tufts, where he plans to study economics.
Girls lacrosse
Erin Keitel, Francis Parker
Erin Keitel
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Her high school campus may be confined to a bluff overlooking Mission Valley, but Keitel has experienced an education that's spanned the globe.
As a high school junior, Keitel spent two weeks in South Africa with eight classmates and five teachers, living on a game preserve, learning about the culture and meeting students her age.
The Carlsbad resident teamed with another group of classmates, this time to win the National Quickscience Competition through USC. The prize: a weeklong study trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Keitel will head to Davidson in North Carolina in the fall, where she will continue her lacrosse career.
“I am interested in science and math,” said Keitel, who scored 2,030 on the SAT and was Coastal League Player of the Year, “and looking at a possible career in medicine.”
Boys golf
Dillon Hakes, Coronado
Dillon Hakes
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Growing up, Hakes usually found his toughest competition – whether in academics or athletics – sitting across the dinner table.
“My brother Taylor Hakes has always been my greatest challenger both academically and athletically,” said the younger Hakes, who scored 2,020 on the SAT and qualified for the Southern California Regional golf tournament.
Dillon Hakes said not only did his brother push him on the golf course, helping him to become a stronger player, but he inspired a passion for math.
They will face off again next spring, when Dillon, at Penn, meets Taylor, at Yale, in the Ivy Championship.
“Both me and my brother have our eyes on the Ivy League trophy next year,” Dillon said. “Both Yale and Penn are competitive within the Ivy League, so I look to see a fierce individual and team competition.”
Nicole Vargas: (619) 293-1390; nicole.vargas@uniontrib.com
