Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Isabella Claussen with coaches and family at Thursday’s letter signing ceremony.

By Ray Hamill — No other Cal Poly Humboldt team brings as many H-DNL athletes on board as the Lumberjacks track and field program.

And that strong connection continues this year with the recruitment of Eureka senior Isabella Claussen.

The Loggers standout is coming off an impressive high school career in the throwing events and she should be another good local addition for a Jacks program that featured seven former H-DNL athletes this spring.

On Thursday, Claussen signed her letter of intent in front of a gathering of family and coaches at Eureka High School.

Her commitment to the local university follows a family tradition. Her father Paul played football for the Jacks and her mother Lisa played softball there.

And CPH head coach Sarah Ingram is looking forward to working with her.

“We’re really excited for your next four or five years, and I think you’re going to do really well, and I think you’re going to continue to have amazing support,” Ingram said at the letter signing. “And you’re going to be a wonderful addition to our team and our program.”

For Claussen, staying local was an easy decision after the Cal Poly Humboldt coaches reached out to her.

“It was one of the first schools that gave me recognition, and I had always thought of going there from when I was younger,” Claussen said. “And I think them reaching out was a sign for me to go there.”

Claussen enjoyed plenty of success at the high school level in her three years at Eureka High after moving to the North Coast from the Fresno area with her family before her sophomore year.

She got the 2025 league season off to a flying start in the first H-DNL meet of the spring, beating her previous PR in the shot put by close to two feet with a throw of 36’ 2”.

She won all three of the regular-season league meets she competed at in the shot put and would go on to comfortably win the league title by almost four feet.

She also placed third in league in the discus and carried that impressive form into the postseason, placing second in the shot put and third in the discus at the North Coast Section Redwood Empire Championships.

Claussen closed out her high school career with a pair of top-10 finishes at the prestigious NCS Meet of Champions, finishing seventh in the shot put and ninth in the discus.

And it was that form and her approach to the sport that put her on the radar of the Lumberjacks coaches.

“Izzy is a phenomenal person and athlete, and we are very excited at Humboldt to see you come and throw at the college level,” CPH throws coach Daniel Gallardo said.

While she is looking forward to the new challenge and the next chapter in her athletic and academic careers, Claussen admits there are some things she will miss from her time with the Loggers.

“I’m going to miss teammates,” she said. “I think that last meet was a little hard with some of the girls from MOCs, and I’m definitely going to miss the coaches, they’ve done so much for me, and I’m just going to miss the whole team.”

The Loggers will miss her every bit as much.

“Track and field throws require more than just strength, they demand some discipline, some precision and hours of technical work,” Eureka athletic director Omar Khattab told the gathering. “Izzy has brought all of that and more to our track and field program.

“Off the field, she has been equally impressive balancing athletics with academics, leading with character and representing our school with pride

“Cal Poly Humboldt isn’t just getting a strong thrower, they’re getting a dependable teammate, a hard worker, a true student-athlete and a real good human being.”

Claussen, who wants to major in Childhood Development Family Resources, is joining a Jacks program that over the past couple of years has recruited fellow throwers Derek Ray (McKinleyville), Joseph Gonzalez (Eureka) and Kalyssa Claros (McKinleyville), as well as Fortuna’s Connor Pratt (sprints), Ferndale’s Isaak Kasso (decathlon), and Eureka’s Ginny Brooks (hurdles) and Charlotte Leonard (distance).