They're still shining bright: Former H-DN stars who jumped to NCAA Division-I sports doing well

On Thursday night, while working on a project, I caught glimpses of the USC vs. Kansas men's basketball game on TV. Suddenly I saw No. 2 on USC -- 6-foot-3 junior guard Greg Allen -- nail a 3-pointer from the corner. I smiled as I thought, ?I've seen that guy make that shot a few times before.?

Allen, who played prep basketball for Eureka High and then went on to Navarro College in Texas for two years, is now at USC. Last year Allen started all 31 games -- and averaged 11 points per game -- for the Bulldogs (20-11). Now in his first season at Southern California, he has started four of 11 games and is averaging 3.2 ppg in 17 minutes. Allen has nailed 8 of 24 attempts from downtown, including a trio of 3-pointers in both his 14 point-performance in the Trojans' 65-62 win over Morgan State, and in his team-high 11-point performance in USC's 56-35 win over UC Riverside.

What about other recent Humboldt-Del Norte prep athletes playing NCAA Division I sports?

Well, here's what my research has uncovered about how 10 other athletes -- in alphabetical order -- have been doing:

Andrew Ayers (St. Bernard's) showed his versatility in his second season on the baseball diamond for Sacramento State last spring. Ayers started 55 games -- 28 in right field, 24 at second base and three in center field -- and won the team's Gold Glove Award after committing just one error all season. At the plate, Ayers stroked 50 hits, batting .249. His best game may have

been in March against Cal State Northridge when he batted 4-for-4 (two singles, a double and a homer) plus a walk. As a member of the Humboldt Crabs, Ayers scored 25 runs and knocked in 23 while hitting .259.

Tara Boynton (Ferndale) played her second year with the Fresno State varsity soccer team. Boynton started 16 games and played 1,191 minutes for the Bulldogs (11-5-5), members of the Western Athletic Conference. As a sophomore forward, Boynton launched 13 of her 21 shots on goal, for a solid .619 percentage, the highest among all Bulldogs who scored goals during the season. Boynton booted in the game-winning goal in the 1-0 win over Idaho. She added three assists for a total of five points during the Bulldogs' season.

David Del Grande (St. Bernard's) joined Ayers on the Sacramento State baseball team and won the Hornet's Most Improved Player award after playing in 56 games. The redshirt freshman started 50 games -- 30 at first base and 14 at second base -- and committed just nine errors out of 364 chances (.975 fielding percentage). At the plate, his .260 average was second-highest on the team. Del Grande was successful in all six of his stolen base attempts. He had a great year with the Crabs, being voted the team's Offensive Player of the year on the merits of his .340 batting average and other team-highs in hits (54) and RBIs (26).

Mallorie Franco (Fortuna) has started all 13 games for the Sacramento State varsity basketball team (5-8), who competes in the Big Sky Conference. The 5-foot-10 junior averages 23.1 minutes, and is sixth on the team in scoring (6.0 ppg). She has the team's second-highest field goal percentage (.434) among all starters. She is fourth in rebounding average (4.0 rpg), and second on the team with 23 offensive boards. Franco also has handed out 32 assists, third most on the team. She has scored 11 points in three different games, including the 89-85 home win over Eastern Illinois.

Kelsy Hintz (Del Norte) who set the all-time H-DN girls pole vault record of 12-06, is still vaulting skywards at San Diego State. After she redshirted in the 2008-09 season, Hintz finished in the top 10 in every meet she participated in during the 2009-10 season. On April 23, 2011, Hintz vaulted 13-7.25 at the UCSD Triton Invitational, tying for third place, establishing a personal best, and providing the fourth best vault in Aztecs' women's history. One week later, Hintz took first at the Steve Scott Invitational at UC Irvine with a 13-2.25. Two weeks after that, Hintz finished first at the Mountain West Conference championships at Colorado State University with a 13-04.50. On May 27, Hintz's 13-3.25 at the NCAA preliminary rounds in Eugene, Oregon qualified her for the NCAA championships in Des Moines on June 8. Although Hintz did not place, she had a fantastic season.

Kelsey Jacobs (Fortuna) has been playing as a redshirt freshman in 11 games for Wichita State (6-5) University in the Missouri Valley Conference. Jacobs recovered from the extensive ACL injury she sustained during her senior season with Fortuna, but missed most of last season with another injury. This year, the 6-foot-2 forward has averaged 3.5 rebounds, and is tied for the Shockers' team lead with 18 offensive boards despite playing just 14 minutes per game. In WSU's 64-56 home loss to the No. 20 ranked LSU Tigers, Jacobs pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds (five offensive) in just 20 minutes on the floor. She has continued to be a shot-blocking threat, with has the second most rejections on the team. Jacobs is averaging 2.9 ppg on 15-of-38 shooting (.395).

Cody Hoffman (Del Norte) has continued to put up big numbers during his sophomore year on the Brigham Young University (9-3) football team. The 6-foot-4 wide receiver has led the Cougars this year in pass receptions (53), receiving yards (821), yards/game (68.4), and hauled in 7 TD passes. On special teams, Hoffman returned 33 kickoffs for 838 yards (an average of 25.4 yards), including a 93-yard runback against Central Florida for BYU's first TD return in 13 years (158 games). As a freshman, Hoffman had 42 receptions, 527 yards and 7 TDs -- including 3 against UTEP in the New Mexico Bowl. Hoffman and the Cougars will face Tulsa in the Armed Forces Bowl on Dec. 30.

Mike Larson (McKinleyville) is ranked No. 18 among 184-pound wrestlers in D-I. As a junior at the University of Missouri --the No. 10 ranked D-I team -- Larson is 9-1, and leads the Tigers with 22 points in dual meets. On Dec. 4, Larson captured first place at the Kaufman-Brand Open in St. Louis. Last year, Larson won five matches and took the fourth-place medal out of 32 wrestlers in the 184-pound bracket at Northwestern University's prestigious 48th annual Midland Championships. Larson ended up 21-15 for the season, a year after he finished second in the Pac-10 championships while a redshirt freshman at CSU Bakersfield.

Sage Romberg (McKinleyville) is second in rebounding (4.5 rpg) and fourth in scoring (7.8 ppg) for Washington State. The 6-foot-1 sophomore is also second in blocked shots and third in steals for the Cougars (6-6). Romberg has started 8 of 12 games and averages 21.4 minutes. On Nov. 24, she tossed in a game-high 19 points, pulled down a team-high 8 rebounds and blocked two shots in WSU's 65-52 win over Marquette at the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands. As a freshman, when she led the Cougars in scoring (9.5 ppg), Romberg was selected to the Pac-10 All-Freshman Team and an honorable mention pick for the All-Pac-10 team.

Soma Vainuku (Eureka) followed up on his fantastic senior season (38 rushing TDs) for the 2009 North Coast Section Division II champion Loggers by heading south to USC. After sitting out in 2010, the 6-foot-2, 255-pound freshman did not carry the ball this year. But Vainuku, listed as the No. 3 fullback on the Trojan's depth chart (usc.rivals.com), should see plenty of action next year considering the fact that the two fullbacks ahead of Vainuku on the depth chart were both seniors. One of Vainuku's duties this year was playing the role of Notre Dame's junior middle linebacker Manti Te'o -- a finalist for The Butkus Award given to colleges' best linebacker -- for the USC scout team. The Trojans (10-2) subsequently beat the Irish 31-17.

Note: Due to time constraints, I focused this column on recent H-DN prep athletes playing NCAA Division I sports. In researching and writing about these 11 athletes playing in seven different sports, if I have inadvertently omitted any person, I apologize. Please contact me (707-441-0579 or ntarpey@times-standard.com) so I can include their information in a future column.

Source: http://www.times-standard.com/ci_19620607?source=rss_viewed

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