LJ b BB: Academic honors

Daniel Hemming, Vikes' academic leader,

plays defense in La Jolla's last regular

season game against Cathedral Feb. 20.

(Photo by Ed Piper)



I am really proud of "my boys", the boys basketball team at La Jolla High, for their academic achievements. This is the team, of all the Viking teams I cover photographically and on my blog, that I spent the most time with--in addition to the football team, which is a whole Friday evening lifestyle during the season. But that's another story.

La Jolla's Daniel Hemming, who never got much recognition on the basketball court, led the grade point average march, checking in with a phenomenal 4.73 out of a possible perfect 5.0. That means that he was/is taking Advance Placement (AP) classes almost every period in his six-period day. That is an unreal amount of work he is tackling, and having success with.

I went to many of the Vikings' games during the stretch of tournaments over the Winter Break, when they play away, and few people, outside of their families, attend their games.

I also saw them through some of the thick-and-thin during spring and summer leagues last year, where the varsity roster of the just-completed season began to take shape. I feel like I know these young men personally, even though I don't hang out at their houses and chat with them--though I did interview Gaynor Blackmon in his home for a feature article, and others in the gym (Reed Farley) and via phone (Zach Duffy, Morgan Albers).

In my other life, I teach full-time in the public school classroom (Juvenile Court and Community Schools). So I "do" classroom and education all week, every week. I can really appreciate the fabulous work these young men are producing. Way to go, leaders.

Also, I give recognition to all the other hard-working Viking student athletes. The point here is not to snub them. It's just way too many names to recognize every team that I cover.

Grant Miller pulled a 4.33 GPA, Johannes "Joho" Osypka 4.29, and big man Mark Rawdin 4.13.

Here are all the La Jolla High players' GPA's from the winter season:

Morgan Albers, Jr., 3.15; Gaynor Blackmon, Sr., 3.38; Ladd Castellano, Sr., 3.13; Anthony Coan, Jr., 3.50; Zachary Duffy, Sr., 3.21; Daniel Hemming, Sr., 4.73; Grant Thomas Miller, Sr., 4.33; Johannes Osypka, Sr., 4.29; Edward Parker, Jr., 3.80; Alex Pitrofsky, Jr., 3.92; Owen Porter, Sr., 3.39; Mark Rawdin, Sr., 4.13.


Copyright 2015 Ed Piper