May 22, 2026
Hayden Shanafelt | Sport Editor
As the class of 2026 comes to a close, the senior fun begins. Starting with this past Thursday’s Senior Awards, seniors were recognized for their academic and athletic achievements. Accolades like valedictorians, scholar of scholars, athlete of the year, and a wide variety of 27 scholarships were all announced. Mr. Popovich and Mr. Bisch played a part in announcing students’ awards, while many others like Nick Pasqualie came on stage to announce the winners of his scholarship. This was a super special way to connect with students and show how united our community is; really living out the one town one team mantra.
The ceremony started off recognizing students who were named valedictorian. Qualified students had a cumulative GPA of 4.0 throughout their entire four years at San Clemente High School. A total of 192 students received this honor and will be wearing white for their graduation gown as well as a golden 2026 tassel that attaches to their cap. Many of these valedictorians were praised with several other awards, such as California Scholarship Federation (CSF), National Honors Society (NHS), Career Technical Education (CTE), Two Way Immersion (TWI), Seal Biliteracy, and many more.
Some standout students included Reese Tremper, a superstar in both sports and academics. She received not only female thlete of the year, but also Triton of the year, a huge honor and reflection of Reese’s impact on the school and her peers around her. Senior Sofia Morielli, talked about how “Reese has been such an amazing friend and teammate…It always inspired [her] how she ran off the soccer field and onto the court for basketball,” showing just how committed Reese was to her sports. Another standout was Darla Larson, who is this year’s Scholar of Scholars, meaning she had the highest unweighted GPA out of the entire senior class, with a whopping 4.90. Senior Elle Schotemeyer commented on how Darla “really deserves this recognition,” and that she has been such a “core part of the girls soccer team” and “an incredible student,” so it’s no surprise Darla has earned this.
The best part about Senior Awards was seeing how supportive everyone was of each other. To see the growth that each student has had in these past four years, as short or as long school has felt to some, there is no denying some change has been done. To see students competing against each other for awards and scholarships to then come together and congratulate those that won reflected that the 2026 class has really grown and matured, becoming closer to one another. Now we will continue to celebrate their hard work in the final stretch of school with more fun senior festivities.
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