By Casey Sublette
Sports Editor
Mira Costa honored seniors Natalie Lavinsky and Karl Acres with the Athlete of the Year awards at the All Awards Assembly on May 31 for their athletic achievements during their senior seasons.
The award is given to the most accomplished senior male and female athletes at Costa. The coaches throughout the Athletics Department select the accomplished athletes. Athletics Director Paula Hart ran the coaches meeting, tallied the votes and ordered the plaques. After the athletes were selected, the coaches decided on the winner through a private ballot between the top three candidates.
“Both athletes were very deserving,” Hart said. “I am happy for both of them.”
Lavinsky, who was captain of both the swim and water polo teams, was selected for her achievements on each team. Seniors Katie Saunders and Kelli Sugimoto were also nominated for softball and track and cross country, respectively.
“Natalie is very dedicated and has an intense personality,” Saunders said.
Lavinsky excelled in water polo, scoring over 100 goals as well as having over 75 steals. She was also named the Daily Breeze Player of the Year.
“It was a great honor to be named Daily Breeze Player of the Year,” Lavinsky said. “It was the perfect end to my high school every senior season.”
In the future, she looks to compete in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as a member of the water polo team.Swimming was also rewarding for Lavinsky. She finished fifth in the 100 freestyle and ninth in the 4×50 relay during CIF. She was also on the school record-breaking 4×100 relay that finished fifth.
Lavinsky will be attending the University of Southern California on an athletic scholarship this fall.
“I am working toward winning four back-to-back National Collegiate Athletic Association titles during my time at USC,” Lavinsky said.
For the male athletes, Acres was honored for his contributions to boys basketball and boys volleyball. Seniors Kyle Hubbard and Adam Perez were nominated for their success in track and cross country.
“Acres really earned it,” Perez said. “I was all for Karl winning.”
Acres spent three years on varsity for both sports and was captain of the basketball team. He plans to continue playing volleyball next year but is still undecided about where he will attend college.
In volleyball, Acres had 174 kills, averaging 1.8 per game. He also had 40 blocks as well as 23 digs and 44 assists in the championship season.
“Winning this is special,” Acres said. “There are a lot of great athletes at Costa, and to be honored at the top is huge.”
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