1. One Heaps of a Decision
One of the best prep features we saw this school year was on the remarkable merry-go-round of camps and training progression for super Skyline (Sammamish, Wash.) quarterback Jake Heaps in the Seattle Times entitled the “Make-a-Jake-Foundation.” On Thursday, Heaps made it official. He's committed to BYU. In a strange 24 hours, Heaps left a spring practice Wednesday, flew to Provo, Utah and made the announcement at of all places, a sports bar. According to this story, also in the Times, Heaps picked the Cougars over the local choice, Washington. His other finalist were Cal, LSU and Tennessee. Heaps has led Skyline to a 28-0 record and two straight state titles.
Jake Heaps is a two-time state 4A Player of the Year.
Photo by Juliann Tallino
2. Delle Donne Back Returns to the Hardwood
One of the most fascinating prep/college stories of 2008 was 2008 MaxPreps and McDonald’s basketball All-American Elena Delle Donne who accepted a full ride to national champion Connecticut but then before ever playing a game, stating then burnout as the main cause. She transferred to Delaware and played volleyball her freshman season but Tuesday decided she’s going back to the hardwood to play basketball for the Blue Hens. She also said that homesickness, not burnout, was the reason why opted out at UConn.
3. National Top 25
Sorry, we have to plug ourselves because for football fans there is no more interesting read on the web than our own National Football Editor Stephen Spiewak’s pre-summer Xcellent 25. Potential for major intrigue on Oct. 2 as No. 1 St. Thomas Aquinas of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., meets No. 2 Byrnes of Duncan, S.C. Let the buildup for that one begin.
4. Mater Dei Wins Game of the Year, Then Loses; Edison Loses, then Wins
They’re still talking about the grand slam that Mater Dei’s Cory Hahn blasted off National Player of the Year candidate Matt Hobgood in a 7-4 win against Norco Friday in a battle of Southern Section, California and national powers. The game was billed as the national game of the year. Mater Dei moved all the way to No. 7 in the country after the win then lost 2-1 in the semifinals to No. 12 Edison (Huntington Beach) on Tuesday. Another deep layer to Edison’s win – two players in its program died earlier in the year via natural causes. It’s added a deeper meaning to Edison’s plight to a championship.
5. Great Day with the Beach
Our own Senior and Hall of Fame Writer Dave Krider did a terrific feature on arguably the nation’s top boys high school athlete – and undoubtedly the top decathlete – Curtis Beach of Albuquerque (N.M.) Academy. He shattered the national decathlon record in April at the Arcadia Invitational, has set a remarkable 17 state records but perhaps the most impressive set of numbers are his personal bests: 100-meter dash (10.99 seconds), 200 (21.82), 400 (47.99), 800 (1:52.72), 1,500 (4:09.48), 110 high hurdles (14.14), 300 hurdles (37.99), long jump (23-10 ¼), high jump (6-9 ½), shot put (44-11), pole vault (15-6), discus (135-11) and javelin (155-9). Simply remarkable.
National High 5 is a regular feature highlighting the top high school sports news and features on the Net. Let us know if there are some interesting reads that we’ve missed. E-mail Mitch Stephens at mstephens@maxpreps.com.
