Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Eureka’s Kaitlin Giacone, left, alongside Jennifer Perrone of DelReka Distributing (one of the award sponsors) after being presented with her Big 5 Girls Athlete of the Year trophy at Eureka High School earlier this week.

By Ray Hamill — It’s been a summer of adjustment for the 2024 Humboldt Sports Big 5 Girls Athlete of the Year.

Eureka’s Kaitlin Giacone, who beat out a talented pool of candidates for this year’s award, has taken her talents to College of the Sequoias in Visalia where she will play college basketball for one of the top JC coaches in the state.

And after making the move earlier in the summer, Giacone says she is settling in well and enjoying life in Visalia.

On Tuesday afternoon, Giacone received her Athlete of the Year trophy, with Jennifer Perrone from DelReka Distributing on hand to present her with the award.

DelReka Distributing is one of this year’s award sponsors, along with Bode Construction, The Humboldt Fence Company, Mendes Supply and Chris Prior of Coldwell Banker Cutten Realty.

Giacone was a four-sport athlete during her time at Eureka High School, competing in soccer, basketball and softball, as well as one season of cross country.

She particularly excelled in both basketball and softball and could have played either sport in college.

A two-time MVP on the basketball court as a junior and senior with the Loggers, she opted to play basketball at the next level.

After originally deciding to play for Butte College, one of the most competitive JC programs in all of California over the past few years, she changed her mind after Roadrunners head coach Tyler Newton made the move to Sequoias earlier this year and opted instead to follow him to Visalia, along with several other Butte players and coaches.

That’s good news for the College of Sequoias women’s team and for Giacone, who will no doubt benefit from playing for Newton.

And the move has worked out so far, with Giacone telling Humboldt Sports she is enjoying life in Visalia as she prepares for the next big challenge in her life.

Del Norte’s Jacalyn Gorbet, who was an all-league selection for the Warriors this past winter, has also joined the Sequoias program.

Congratulations to Giacone on a well-deserved award.