Laguna Beach quintet makes college decisions

Most of them are distance runners, although the distance they’re traveling for college varies.

Tommy Newton-Neal and Sean Pigden are staying close, going to UC Irvine. Richard Mattingly has a bit longer drive to the University of San Diego, while Blake Hofmeister (Yale) and Andrew Shapero (Tufts) are each East Coast-bound.

But together, they make up an extremely strong senior class at Laguna Beach High that has made college running commitments.

There are others in the class who are continuing on. Senior Brett Linkletter will be jumping at USC.

On the girls’ side, Gerry Artman will be running at SOKA University in Aliso Viejo and McKenna Nokes is headed for College of Charleston.

For the fab five of Newton-Neal, Pigden, Mattingly, Hofmeister and Shapero, it has been a great senior year.

All five were on the cross-country team in the fall that captured the CIF State Division IV title, the third state title in the program’s history.

Now, they’re lending their talents to helping the Breakers boys to what they hope is another Orange Coast League track and field title. Yet, as distance runners, the focus in college will likely be on cross-country.

All are certainly smart enough. All five have grade-point averages between 3.7 and 4.7; the highest is Shapero, who is second in the Breakers’ senior class. Yet, it doesn’t take a genius to know how special this class is.

Sure, there are Laguna guys who have continued in college, like Max Mullender (class of 2006) for UC San Diego and Aman Bhatia (also class of ‘06) at UCI. But five in one year?

Their reasons for attending the colleges they chose vary. Becoming an Anteater wasn’t a surprise for Newton-Neal, who has big plans, as well.

He wants to go to the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and will first try to break four minutes in the mile.

“[UCI] is the only school I applied to,�� Newton-Neal said.

“Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve always wanted to go to UCI. It’s an amazing coaching staff, especially Vince O’Boyle, the head coach. He’s a good family friend, too.��

Hofmeister had little doubt he would continue running in college. He went on a recruiting trip to Yale in November.

“Everyone there seemed to work together; it was kind of like a community atmosphere,�� Hofmeister said. “At other Ivy League schools, it’s kind of like your success is contingent on someone else’s failure, and that’s not really the case at Yale.

“I also think athletics and academics are complementary. Athletics helps clear my mind, and allows me to perform better academically as well There’s a summer training plan each of us is going to have to run for college cross-country. It’s going to be nice to have people nearby to run with.��

Mattingly nearly quit running after undergoing knee surgery following his freshman year, but he stuck with it and it’s paid off.

“I wasn’t sure I wanted to run in college,�� he said. “But the more I thought about it, it’ll be a good bonding experience and I’ll have super-close friends. You’re with the team all the time. And San Diego is right by the beach; I want to surf in college.��

For Shapero, Tufts was a good choice. He said this year’s state title in cross-country helped him lean toward continuing the sport in college.

Pigden is more of a middle-distance guy, excelling at the 800 meters. But he will also like running at UCI.

“And my best friend’s going, Tommy, which is a good reason,�� Pigden said.

Yep, they’re all friends. Newton-Neal wants them all to run in a half-marathon at Disneyland over the summer, and Mattingly talked of all of them running a marathon together after they graduate college.

But regardless what happens, the Breakers will be extremely well-represented at the next level.