Twelve finalists from North State high schools are in contention for male and female Scholar-Athlete of the Year for 2025-26.
In an annual spring tradition, the Record Searchlight, Rotary Club of Redding and the Seamans Family Foundation recognize the top six senior boys and top six senior girls who excelled both in the classroom and on the field this school year.
One boy and one girl will be chosen as winners of the coveted honor, which got its start in 1985.
Five male and five female finalists each will receive a $1,800 scholarship while the two winners each will be presented with $2,500.
Last year’s winners were Bria Tate of Shasta High School and Brooks Andrus of Mount Shasta High School.
A panel of judges from the Record Searchlight, Rotary Club and the Seamans Family Foundation received a total of 36 applications – from 16 girls and 20 boys – and narrowed the field down to the dozen finalists.
Judging was based on the students’ academic performance, athletic achievements and extracurricular activities, such as leadership roles and community service.
All 12 finalists will be honored Thursday, May 7, at a luncheon where the boys and girls winners will be announced.
Following are the names and descriptions of the finalists in alphabetical order starting with the girls.
Girls Scholar-Athlete finalists
Audrey Berg – U-Prep
Berg competed in volleyball and was named All-League MVP for the Northern Athletic League and Eastern Athletic League.
Her varsity honors include Shasta County Athlete of the Week and YMCA Athlete of the Week. She is her school’s record holder for number of kills in a match and achieved 1,000 career kills.
She helped lead her team to a section championship and co-league title.
She has a weighted 4.3 GPA and plans to attend the University of Texas at Dallas to pursue a political science degree.
She’s volunteered for Special Needs class, a community park cleanup, the Blue Santa program and a trash pickup.
Brooklyn Bivins – Weed High School
Bivins is a three-sport athlete who has competed in volleyball (captain, honorable mention), basketball (captain, league champions, first team all-league) and track (in progress).
She has a weighted 4.18 GPA and is choosing between UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC San Diego to focus on nutrition and metabolic biology.
Community service includes Siskiyou Food Assistance, Christmas food baskets and Mountain Top Athletics basketball camps. She’s helped with volleyball and basketball fundraisers.
Mahayla Guevarra – West Valley
Guevarra’s sports are volleyball (first team all-section libero, all-league award, co-league champion) and track.
She carries a 4.43 weighted GPA and is looking at UC Davis, UC Merced and UC San Diego to pursue biochemistry.
She’s a Shasta College Honors Society member along with a National Honors Society Member. She’s been a Mercy Medical Center volunteer and a counselor for Shasta Youth Leadership Camp and Youth Volleyball Camp.
She’s been recognized with the West Valley Early College High School Perfect Attendance Award.
Samantha Johnson – U-Prep
A multisport athlete, Johnson competed in swimming (NAL League champions), basketball and softball.
Her weighted GPA is 4.74. She plans to attend the U.S. Naval Academy/U.S. Military Academy to study aerospace engineering and astrophysics.
Her community service includes U-For All (a special needs sports camp), Salvation Army bell ringing and the Kool April Nites information booth. She was a U-Prep Basketball Camp instructor and tutored six-grade Algebra 2 students.
Tea Kaizen – Central Valley
Kaizen is a three-sport athlete in cross-country (all-league), soccer (all-league and MVP) and track and field.
She’ll take her 4.45 weighted GPA to Cal Poly Humboldt and study kinesiology (the scientific study of human body movement).
She’s helped with the Shasta Damboree Community Dinner and Salvation Army Bell Ringing, volunteered at Turtle Bay for environmental service work and stuffed backpacks with food for families in need.
Renna Shriner – Anderson High School
Shriner has played volleyball (NAL All-League, All-Star game) and basketball (NAL All-League and All-Star game where she won the Academic Athlete Scholarship and team MVP).
She has a weighted GPA of 4.38 and plans to major in education at College of the Redwoods.
She’s helped coach eighth-grade basketball, run a youth volleyball camp and volunteered as a transitional kindergarten aide.
Boys Scholar-Athlete finalists
Carson Anderson – Foothill High School
Anderson’s two sports are football (all-league and all-section, Lions All-Star game) and volleyball. Football honors include Heart of the Cougar, All Northern Section first team wide receiver, No. 1 wide receiver by NorCal Football and Record Searchlight Offensive Player of the Year.
With a 3.78 weighted GPA, Anderson is planning to attend Southern Oregon University to focus on kinesiology or business administration.
Anderson joined his football teammates in 2025 to volunteer for the Asphalt Cowboys’ pancake breakfast and the Redding Rodeo. He participated in the Every 15 Minutes Program that teaches the dangers and consequences of drinking and driving.
Garrett Buker – Yreka High School
Buker was the team captain in his three sports: Soccer, cross-country and track and field.
He achieved a 4.09 weighted GPA and was accepted at UC Davis where he wants to study animal science.
For three years in a row, he’s been recognized as one of the top 100 students in Siskiyou County for his GPA and academic rigor.
Buker is the founder and organizer of a Youth Track Camp through the YMCA.
Noah Gaddy – U-Prep
Gaddy’s sports are cross-country (NAL champion, All-League, All-Section – second overall) and track and field. He was ranked No. 1 in the 1,600-meter run in the Northern Section as of mid-March.
He has a 4.34 weighted GPA and his college choices are Shasta College and Chico State University to pursue counseling/psychology.
He’s been the Panther school mascot and has been a church camp counselor. He’s also volunteered for a community creek cleanup and the SWEAT Running Club, among other community service.
Jett Marshall – Weed High School
Marshall is a five-sport athlete and has earned all-league honors in football, basketball and the ski and snowboard team. He also plays baseball and golf.
He achieved a 4.07 weighted GPA and plans to study economics at UC Berkeley.
He’s helped with Siskiyou Food Assistance and athletic fundraising. He’s also served in the AmeriCorps Junior Giants Ambassador program.
Bryce Owens – Red Bluff High School
Owens is a three-sport athlete in football, basketball and baseball. His football honors include All-League, the Record Searchlight Defensive Player of the Year, the Action News Now Scholar-Athlete of the Month and a Lions All-Star selection.
In basketball, he earned All-League honors and was a Lions All-Star selection.
His weighted GPA is 4.23. He plans to study agriculture business at Butte College.
Community service includes volunteering each year at the Red Bluff Bull and Gelding Sale. The Red Bluff Rotary named him as the 2025 Young Farmer of the Year.
Dylan Taylor – Shasta High School
Taylor plays for club volleyball teams in the Sacramento area. His team has traveled across the country for national tournaments at the highest level for his age group. In 2025, his team finished 17th in the nation.
He has earned a 4.5 weighted GPA and plans to attend UC Irvine to study business economics.
For the past five years, Taylor has been the captain of his club volleyball teams in Sacramento. He’s the founder and president of the Boys Volleyball Club and part of the National Team Development Program for USA Volleyball.
He’s participated in Adopt-A-Wolf, which provides a Christmas for Shasta County families in need and volunteered for Shasta High School youth volleyball camps.
Mike Chapman is a veteran Northern California reporter and photojournalist who retired from the Redding Record Searchlight. His byline also has appeared in the USA TODAY Network, Siskiyou Daily News and the Eureka Times-Standard.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Meet 12 Redding area seniors named Scholar-Athlete finalists
Reporting by Mike Chapman, Special to the Record Searchlight / Redding Record Searchlight
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
