Alanis adds SDHSSA male athlete of the year to honors

Austin Alanis earned the position of Bonsall High School salutatorian for the class of 2020 based on his GPA alone. The San Diego High School Sports Association annually honors a male athlete and a female athlete from each CIF San Diego Section school based on athletic and leadership criteria as well as grades, and Alanis was the Bonsall High School selection for the male Senior Scholar-Athlete.

“No one would question Austin getting the award. He can be seen running on campus and around his neighborhood in the offseason, knowing it’s that extra work that helps to garner success,” Eric Hendy athletic director of Bonsall High School, said

“I’m very humbled to be picked,” Alanis said. “I’m just happy I could contribute enough to be considered for it.”

Alanis ran cross-country and track for the Legionnaires. He qualified for the state cross-country meet as an individual during his senior year, and when he was a sophomore the Legionnaires qualified for the state meet as a team. He achieved all-league recognition as a junior and senior and was part of the all-CIF team for his senior season. His senior track and field season was canceled due to the coronavirus quarantine, so he closed out his high school track and field career in 2019 at the CIF section meet after being part of the 4x400 relay team which qualified for the CIF preliminaries after a second-place finish at the Frontier Conference meet. The cancellation of 2020 track and field events means that Alanis concluded high school athletic competition with 54th place among the 203 Division V boys at the CIF state cross-country meet Nov. 30, at Woodward Park in Fresno.

Academically, Alanis received an “A” grade in every high school class he took and had a GPA of 4.5577.

Alanis was not expecting to receive the award.

“Very pleasant surprise,” he said.

Hendy said Alanis’ impact with classroom projects as well as teams.

“He’s a calm but strong force in helping to guide whichever group he’s working with,” Hendy said.

Bonsall High School had a guitar ensemble during Alanis’ sophomore and junior years, and Alanis was part of that. He was also part of the Bonsall Buddies program which creates bonds between seniors and freshmen.

Alanis had Hendy as a physical education teacher when Alanis was in 10th grade. Hendy said that Alanis, who was new to the school after transferring from Lejeune High School in North Carolina, was shy at the time.

“His voice hasn’t become louder. It’s just become more determined and thoughtful,” Hendy said.

Officially only one male athlete and one female athlete receive the designation, but Bonsall gave unofficial female Senior Scholar-Athlete recognition to twins Abigayle and Isabella Ford.

“We’re going to miss the leadership of all three of them at school, but they’re going to go on and do great things in other areas of the world,” Hendy said.

“I do everything for the team and for the competition and for the school, and just to know that they’re watching and they appreciate it was just an honor,” Alanis said.

Joe Naiman can be reached by email at [email protected].