This list of Humboldt-Del Norte League athletes who've gone on to play NCAA Division I sports, on scholarship, has grown again to include a number of soccer players of recent vintage and a couple of the best girls to ever play basketball on the North Coast.
There is no list like this anywhere else. So, folks interesting in helping grow the list to include the dozens of folks not mention yet can send information to:
tsillanpaa1956@gmail.com
The only criteria is that the athletes played in the Humboldt-Del Norte League went on scholarship to an NCAA Division I sports program. If an athlete earned a D-I roster spot as a walk-on participant, great, there's a place on the list for them. (Fans can decide whether or not an athlete is noteworthy or not.)
Making this a comprehensive list could turn into a job ... sort of like something that folks in the North Coast media could be putting together as part of their routine. Seems like there'd be great interest in Sage Romberg emerging as a Pac-12 Conference basketball star for Washington State, but it appears that today's games are all that really matter in the daily North Coast media.
Too bad, huh? The athletes listed here were mentioned day after day after day as the biggest stars on the North Coast -- until they left to play in a bigger spotlight and, now, this little list is all the attention many of them get.
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Sage Romberg, McKinleyville/Washington State, basketball
Romberg's a sophomore for the Cougars after earning all-Pac-10 Conference honorable mention and Pac-10 All-Freshman Team honors in 2010-2011.
Romberg's WSU hoop hero
Kelsie Jacobs, Fortuna/Wichita State, basketball
Jacobs is a red-shirt freshman for the Shockers after suffering a knee injury that shortened her senior season at Fortuna High.
Jacobs at Wichita State
Rachel Grushkin, Eureka, University of Oregon, soccer
Grushkin currently is the national teams coordinator for the U.S. soccer federation. She was also an intern for the David Beckham Academy at Anschutz Entertainment Group after graduation from Oregon in 2007.
Grushkin Still Active in U.S. soccer
Greg Allen, Eureka/USC basketball (currently on roster)
EHS star with Trojans
Tara Boynton, Ferndale/Fresno State, soccer
Boynton appeared in 17 games and started nine in her freshman season for the Bulldogs.
Ferndale star shines at D-I
Clint Long, Arcata/Oregon State, soccer
Long redshirted in this his freshman season with the Beavers.
Arcata's Long With Division I Beavers
Buck Pierce, Del Norte/New Mexico State, football, Canadian Football League QB
DN's Pierce a CFL standout
Soma Vainuku, Eureka/USC football (currently on roster)
Vainuka at USC
Cody Hoffman, Del Norte/BYU football (currently on roster)
DN stud shines at BYU
Other H-DNL alumni
Rey Maualuga, Eureka/USC, football, Cincinnati Bengals
Randy Matyshock, Ferndale/Boise State, football
John Jaso, McKinleyville/Seattle Mariners (currently on roster)
Jaso back on West Coast
Randy Niemann, Fortuna/NY Yankees/Pittsburgh Pirates/Houston Astros/Chicago White Sox/NY Mets
currently NY Mets minor league pitching coach
Niemann working for Mets
Tino Romero, Eureka/Washington State football
Jon Stone, Eureka/Cal, baseball
Dave Stone, Eureka/N.Y. Mets organization, baseball
Mo Purify, Eureka/Nebraska, football
Cardedrick Foreman, Eureka/Weber State, football
Willie Beebe, St. Bernard/Colorado, football
David Sharp, St. Bernard/Virginia Military Institute, baseball
Gregg Reynolds, Arcata/University of Pacific, baseball
Travis Fleming, McKinleyville/University of Pacific, baseball
Matt Nielsen, McKinleyville/Sac State baseball
Gary Wilson, Eureka/Sac State, baseball, Pittsburgh Pirates, currently Colorado Rockies regional scout
Mark Gorge, Arcata/Sac State, baseballJeff Borghino, Arcata/Sac State, baseball
Mitch Walter, Arcata/Kansas State, baseball
Ryan Johnston, McKinleyville/U. of Arkansas, baseball
Matt Tomlin, St. Bernard/University of Nebraska, baseball
Brandon Marcelli, Eureka/Fresno State, baseball
Mo Charlo, Eureka/Nevada, basketball
Trina Bindel, Eureka/Wake Forest, track and field
Brandon Bieber, Del Norte/U of Alaska-Fairbanks, basketball
Vicky Fleschner, Fortuna/Oregon, cross country & track
Heidi Bowman, South Fork/Marquette, basketball
Trina McCartney, McKinleyville/Oregon, basketball (She graduated in '87)
Matt Creason, Eureka/Georgetown, cross country & track
Debbie Templeton, South Fork/Stanford, track and field
Megan McMillan, Del Norte/Oregon State, volleyball
Morrie Roe, Arcata/Hawaii, football
Scott Eskra, Eureka/Mississippi, baseball
Gina Loechl, Eureka/Wisconsin, swimming
Ashley Curry, McKinleyville/UC Davis
Jim Berning, Eureka/Montana State, basketball
Mike Spini, Ferndale/Washington State baseball
Rick Lundblade, Eureka/Stanford baseball
Rob Harrison, Eureka/San Diego State/San Jose State/Sacramento State football
Ken Maire, Eureka/Cal baseball
Chad Gleave, Arcata/San Jose State, soccer
Sita Kuteira, Arcata/UC Davis, soccer
Greg Lorenzetti, Fortuna/Stanford, baseball
Paul Ziegler, Fortuna/USC, baseball
Trina McCartney, McKinleyville/Oregon State, basketball
Cindy Bradley, Eureka/Minnesota, basketball,
David Wells, Eureka/CR/Stanford, track & cross country,
