The LA Galaxy Academy has announced its third-ever graduating class with 13 seniors making up the Class of 2018. The seniors were recognized at a private graduation ceremony at StubHub Center on Thursday, June 14.
All 13 seniors successfully completed the LA Galaxy Academy Program, a comprehensive student-athlete program that provides individualized and rigorous academic curriculum to the young athletes of the LA Galaxy Academy. Of the 13 graduating seniors, 11 have been a part of the Academy since the inception of the program in 2015. The distinctive program mirrors the club’s expectations of excellence in discipline, character and respect, while establishing an environment that allows the LA Galaxy Academy student-athletes to develop as scholars and world-class soccer players.
The graduating student-athletes are: Alex Mendez (University of California, Los Angeles), Aristotle Zarris (Wake Forest University), Carlos Anguiano (California State University, Fullerton), Ian Lonergan (University of California, Berkeley), Jake Arteaga (Portland), Josh Hurwitz (Boston University), Jonathan Estrada (University of California, Berkeley), Jose Delgado (California State University, Fullerton), Kelee Cornfield-Saunders (Valedictorian, Portland), Kevin Negrete (El Camino College), Paolo Carillo-Weisenburger (University of California, Berkeley), Taylor Davila (University of California, Berkeley), Zico Bailey (California State University, Fullerton).
In addition to LA Galaxy Academy’s valedictorian, Kelee Cornfield-Saunders, the Academy announced 10 other awards.
Salutatorian: Aristotle Zarris
8th/9th Grader of the Year: Cameron Dunbar
Sophomore of the Year: Matt Palos
Junior of the Year: Anthony Rodriguez
Senior of the Year: Taylor Davila
Student-Athlete of the Year: Jose Delgado
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Leonardo Sepulveda
Galaxy Award: Pablo Vega
Integrity Award: Daron Iskenderian
Academic Distinction Award: Clayton Molter
To date, four LA Galaxy Academy School graduates have signed professional soccer contracts with LA Galaxy and LA Galaxy II. In 2017, Hugo Arellano (Class of 2016) became the first graduate of the LA Galaxy Academy School to sign an MLS contract after previously being signed to LA Galaxy II. Ethan Zubak (Class of 2016), Jonathan Hernandez (Class of 2016) and Eric Lopez (Class of 2017) are currently signed to LA Galaxy II. Efrain Alvarez, a current member of the LA Galaxy Academy, was signed to the LA Galaxy ahead of the 2018 season.
Set at the LA Galaxy’s StubHub Center campus, the LA Galaxy Academy has enabled students to excel both on the field and in the classroom. On the field, the student-athletes train under the direction of top level coaches. In the classroom, the student-athletes received academic instruction from qualified and credentialed teachers in the combination of a physical classroom setting and online curricula.
For more information on the LA Galaxy Academy, please visit www.lagalaxy.com/academy.
