By Ray Hamill — The Del Norte Warriors lead the way with three girls in our list of finalists for the 2026 Humboldt Sports Big 5 Girls Athlete of the Year.

All five conference schools are included in our list of finalists, a group that includes six seniors, two juniors, a sophomore and a freshman who wasted no time showcasing her talents at the high school level.

All of the finalists are multi-sports standouts with at least two Big 5 All-League selections or honorable mentions

The B5 Girls Athlete of the Year is one of six awards we’ll be handing out this summer, along with our Big 5 Boys Athletes of the Year, our Little 4 Boys and Girls Athletes of the Year, our Coach of the Year and our Team of the year.

This is the sixth list of finalists, with all six winners set to be announced in the coming days.

As always, a big thank you to our award sponsors, Bode Construction and Mendes Supply Company, longtime sponsors of our end-of-year awards.

So here then are our finalists for the 2026 Humboldt Sports Big 5 Girls Athlete of the Year.

Bliss Blackburn

Del Norte, Senior

Blackburn closed out her high school career having not just completed 12 seasons of sports, but excelling in all of them.

A team leader and the Warriors’ representative on this year’s all-league sportsmanship team, Blackburn was named All-League in volleyball and received an honorable mention in basketball and softball.

Cabella Carper

McKinleyville, Freshman

A freshman who had an immediate impact at the high school level and clearly has a bright future, Carper made her presence felt in basketball and softball.

The young standout was named All-League in softball after receiving a Big 5 honorable mention on the basketball courts.

Kansas Coulson

Del Norte, Senior

Coulson is one of four athletes on our list of finalists to receive at least two All-League selections this year.

The Del Norte senior was honored in both volleyball and basketball, playing a pivotal role for both of her teams in her final year of high school sports, and she also enjoyed a big spring in track and field.

Jaylee Keeling

Del Norte, Sophomore

The only sophomore on our list of finalists, Keeling enjoyed a history-making year, helping to lead the Warriors to a first-ever league title in girls golf and placing second in the final league standings behind teammate Bria Larson.

She followed that with an outstanding winter on the basketball courts, where she received her second All-League selection of the year.

Evalynn Little

Fortuna, Junior

Little made her presence felt on the softball fields with an outstanding spring and she was arguably the best hitter in the entire H-DNL, averaging .522 with seven home runs and 13 doubles.

She also played a key role for the Huskies on the basketball court, where she received a Big 5 honorable mention.

Jada Lusk

Arcata, Senior

Lusk closed out her high school career with a bang, leading the Arcata girls to a league title in soccer and earning league MVP honors.

She followed that with an impressive winter on the wrestling mats, placing second in her weight division at the league championships.

Tiarah Maualuga

Eureka, Junior

A dominating presence on a pair of Eureka teams, Maualuga enjoyed her best year yet in high school sports.

After leading the Loggers to a conference championship in volleyball and earring Big 5 MVP honors, the standout junior continued to play a key role for her team on the basketball courts, earning an All-League selection with another MVP-caliber season.

Isabel Sanchez

Fortuna, Senior

A force for the Huskies in both soccer and softball, Sanchez was named female athlete of the year at the annual Husky ESPYs this spring.

An All-League selection on the soccer fields in the fall, Sanchez followed that in the spring when she received a Big 5 honorable mention in softball.

Macy Secor

Eureka, Senior

Secor played a key role on a pair of breakthrough teams at Eureka this past year.

She got the school year off to flying start with an All-League selection on a volleyball team that won the Big 5 championship and followed that with a stellar spring on a softball squad that took home this year’s Charles Lakin Tournament trophy.

Liana Stumpf

McKinleyville, Senior

Stumpf is another senior standout who closed out a stellar high school career with a big year, playing key roles on three Panthers teams, including volleyball, basketball and softball.

She earned All-League honors in both volleyball and softball, helping to lead McKinleyville to a Big 5 championship in the latter.