Top athletes dominate on field, in class
By Damon Hodge
View staff writer
The Las Vegas Review-Journal high school athletes of the year dominated not only in athletics, but academics.
Take male athlete-of-year Jamaal Brimmer from Durango. In addition to winning the Review-Journal's Class 4A player of the year awards in football and basketball, the UNLV-bound freshman carried a 3.7 grade-point average.
Mojave sprinter Nicole Ireland, whose four individual state titles earned her female athlete of the year, also excelled academically.
Lee Hafen and Abby Miller, winners of the inaugural male and female scholar-athlete of the year awards, graduated with unweighted 4.0 GPAs.
"I think it says a lot about our character ... it shows we're balanced individuals and true student-athletes," said Miller, an 18-year-old Green Valley High graduate who won her fourth cross country title -- in the 3,200 meters -- and led the Gators to the team title. She will run cross country at the University of California, Irvine.
The high-achieving quartet was honored with three dozen other top athletes in 20 prep sports at a July 13 ceremony inside the Monte Carlo.
Keynote speaker Stephanie Keever, a standout golfer at Stanford University and 1997 Class 4A girls golfer of the year at Cimarron-Memorial, encouraged athletes to strike a balance between collegiate academics and sports.
Keever, who finished fifth in the NCAA tournament and played in the U.S. Open, also talked about selecting schools, setting goals, being a role model and preparing for life's twists and turns. She had knee surgery last year.
"I felt fine. Next thing I know, I needed to have knee surgery," she said. "You have to be prepared for anything. You must remember that, as athletes, we are never bigger than life."
Brimmer's performances seemed larger than life. He threw for 1,714 yards and 11 touchdowns and rushed for 593 yards and 13 scores. At strong safety, he made 58 tackles and had five interceptions -- three returned for touchdowns -- on the way to earning first-team all-Southern Nevada defensive back honors. He also kicked 36 extra points and three field goals.
In hoops, the 18-year-old averaged 18 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.4 assists and three steals for the state-finalist Trailblazers.
"This was a dream year for him," his father Jimmy Brimmer said. "He's a very self-motivated kid, who plays for the right reasons and realizes the value of education."
Ireland, 18, ended her career similar to the way she started it -- with state championships. She won the 100- and 200-meter dashes as a freshman and added nine more in the next three years, including titles this year in the 100, 200, 400 and 100-meter hurdles. She set a state record in the 400 at the zone meet.
The former junior Olympian said track was merely a way to get to college.
"I found out I was fast when I made it to the Junior Olympics in the 100 hurdles," said Ireland, who didn't lose a race this year and led Mojave to the girls team title.
She will compete in the sprint hurdles for the University of Alabama.
"I certainly never expected to be the female athlete of the year," Ireland said.
Hafen was Mr. Do-it-all at Boulder City, playing football, baseball and basketball. He was a dominant pitcher and hitter and earned the Gatorade state player award in basketball where he scored 29 points a game and set a school scoring record with 1,959 points, breaking father Russ' school record of 1,752 points.
The UNR-bound 18-year-old is proudest of his academic achievements.
"I've always put academics before athletics, so this award is very special to me," the co-valedictorian said. "There are a lot of great student-athletes in town who are more deserving."
Miller, winner of the Wendy's High School Heisman for her academic, athletic and civic accomplishments, was impressed by her peers' athletic exploits, but reserved the most praise for their classroom performances.
"We're not only well-rounded athletes," she said. "More importantly, we're well-rounded people."
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