Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Madelyn Shanahan with her L4 Girls Athlete of the Year trophy.

By Ray Hamill — It was no surprise to see that the 2024 Humboldt Sports Little 4 Girls Athlete of the Year received a lot of interest from college programs.

And in multiple sports too.

St. Bernard’s Madelyn Shanahan was a four-sport star for the Crusaders before graduating this year and could easily have played any of them at the college level.

During her four years of high school, she was a two-time Little 4 MVP in both basketball and volleyball, as well as a conference MVP in soccer and one of the top track and field athletes in the H-DNL.

She closed out her high school career competing at the highest level possible in track and field.

After placing second in the girls discus at the North Coast Section Meet of Champions, she was one of just three local athletes to qualify for the state championships this year, where she would cap an outstanding high school career with a 14th place finish in the event, smashing her previous PR in the event by more than 10 feet with a throw of 132’ 2”.

And let’s not forget, as a senior she also led the Crusaders to the H-DNL’s first NCS championship in volleyball in 37 years, before leading the SB girls to the league’s first-ever state championship in basketball, boys or girls, and earning CalHiSports all-state honors in the process.

She is one of the most accomplished student-athletes in the history of the H-DNL and she will be missed.

So obviously it was no surprise to see Shanahan receive interest from several college programs in basketball, volleyball and track and field, including Willamette University, which wanted her to compete in both volleyball and track.

But for now Shanahan has turned down the multiple offers in order to focus on her studies at UC Santa Barbara, where she will be a pre-med student this fall.

The Division-I Gauchos are leaving the door open for Shanahan to compete in track and field if she changes her mind, and if she did she would walk on to the team as their top thrower.

Whether she opts to compete again or not, one thing is certain. Shanahan has been one of the most impressive local high school student-athletes we’ve seen in some time and her achievements in sports will leave a lasting legacy at St. Bernard’s.

Congratulations to Madelyn Shanahan on a well-deserved L4 Athlete of the Year award and we wish her nothing but the best in all of her future endeavors.

And congratulations to all of the award finalists, each of whom made a big impact for their respective schools and teams over the past year.

Submitted photo – Madelyn Shanahan and her SB teammate Laila Florvilus at this year’s Meet of Champions.