Top of their class

Mike Sciacca

Leah Edwards and Brian Beck have earned the distinction as Laguna

Beach High’s top female and male senior scholar athletes for 2002-03

as presented by the Special Achievement Awards Program through the

Laguna Rotary Club.

The two were honored at a luncheon held last Friday at The Hotel

Laguna and each received a check for $100.

“Leah and Brian were chosen based on their GPA, community service

hours and their athletic ability and achievements during the 2002-03

school year,” said Chris Krach, a teacher at Laguna Beach High who

works with the Rotary Club.

In addition to sharing the scholar-athlete honor, the two have

something else in common: both are humble and well-spoken.

Leah Edwards, 17, excelled not only in the classroom but on the

soccer field.

She carries a 4.1 grade-point average and was an all-Pacific Coast

League sweeper on the Breakers’ girls’ varsity soccer team, serving

as a tri-captain during her senior year.

“When a coach sets out expectations for his athletes, he usually

gets some of his players to follow a few of them,” Laguna girls’

soccer coach Mike Thomas said at the luncheon. “Leah was a coach’s

dream.

“In the four years she participated in Laguna soccer she missed

only one practice. She worked exceptionally hard her whole high

school career. Through her attitude and actions she modeled to her

peers and her coach what a stellar athlete and person she is.”

Edwards will attend Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., next

fall, the same school from which her father, Steve and brother, Ben,

graduated and where brother, Asher, will be a junior in the fall.

She said she will enroll in the school’s college of business and

economics.

Edwards, who put in more than 100 hours of community service this

school year, said that finding a balance between academics and

athletics was the key to her success.

“It’s a matter of managing your priorities and knowing how to

allocate your time,” she said. “I think what also helped me achieve

was to just go out there and have fun and not worry too much about

the pressure of balancing everything. It all works out in the end.”

Brian Beck, 17, is passionate about baseball and his desire

translated onto the playing field.

Beck, a first baseman/outfielder for the Breakers, has been a

varsity team captain and all-PCL performer the past two years.

Like Edwards, he holds a 4.1 GPA.

“It was no surprise to the baseball coaching staff when we heard

that Brian Beck received the Rotary Club scholar athlete of the

year,” Laguna baseball coach Mike Schubert said. “Brian has been a

cornerstone of the baseball program since his freshman year at LBHS.

“His hard work and dedication has not only been exemplified on the

field, but also in the classroom. His leadership and contributions on

and off the field have been innumerable.”

Beck, 17, says that his attention to details in his classroom work

was instilled by his parents, Bob and Sue, and that academic and

athletic success go hand-in-hand.

“My parents taught me that academics come first,” said Beck who

will attend the University of San Diego in the fall. “Balancing

academics and athletics has really taught me a lot about time

management. I’ve learned some important aspects about leadership and

responsibility along the way.”

Beck, who plans on studying business administration, said he will

try out for a spot on the Toreros baseball team.

“I want to become a professional baseball player,” he said.

“Baseball is my passion. If, for some reason, I don’t become a

professional player, I’d still like to be affiliated with the

management side of a professional baseball organization.”

Both Edwards and Beck said they knew little of the Rotary senior

scholar athletic award. Each, however, said receiving the award was a

“great honor.”

The two will graduate on June 19.

“I think we both really were surprised and taken aback when we

heard we won this award,” Edwards said. “It’s just really nice to be

recognized by the community.”