COLLEGE UPDATE: Andrea Kropp adjusts to new setting with USC
The following are updates on local athletes at the collegiate level.
Andrea Kropp (Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, 2010) USC swimming redshirt sophomore: After claiming an Ivy League championship at Princeton University in 2011, the former Tolog transferred to USC and put on a redshirt for her sophomore season.
She then went on to earn All-American status in the 200-yard breaststroke with the Trojans in 2013 after taking seventh in the event in the NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming Championships, which took place March 21-23, in two minutes, 7.62 seconds.
Kropp will take her 200 breaststroke with her to the 2013 Phillips 66 National Championships and World Championship Trials, which will take place June 25-29 in Indianapolis, ID.
The Sacred Heart graduate also proved a standout in the classroom, as she was an honorable mention for the Pac-12 Women’s Swimming and Diving All-Academic list.
She took 12th in the 200 individual medley (1:57.15) and 18th in the 100 breast (1:00.28) at the NCAA championship meet.
The Trojans fell short of winning their first Pac-12 title this season when it was edged by Stanford (1,439.5) by 21 points for a runner-up finish. Kropp took fourth in the 200 breast (2:08.68), seventh in the 100 breast (1:00.75) and eighth in the individual medley (1:58.82) in the conference meet, which took place Feb. 27 to March 2.
Nick Gentili (St. Francis High, 2010) Pomona-Pitzer baseball senior: Gentili ended his collegiate career with another standout campaign for the Sagehens. The former Golden Knight was rewarded with a second consecutive All-West Region second-team selection by D3baseball.com.
Gentili’s batting average (.386) was second highest for Pomona-Pitzer, along with his five home runs. Those numbers also led to him being voted a first-team All-Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference player for the third time.
The Sagehens’ season ended May 16 with an 8-3 loss to Linfield in the NCAA Division III West Regional Tournament. They finished the year with a 29-16 record and took second in the Southern California Intercollegiate Conference with a 20-8 conference mark.
Gentili was three for nine in Pomona-Pitzer’s two-game stint in the NCAA Division III West Regional. He went two for five in a 4-3, 11-inning loss to Texas-Tyler on May 15, and was one for four with an RBI in the Sagehens’ season-ending 8-3 loss the next day.
Adrienne Ingalla (Crescenta Valley High, 2011) Cal Lutheran water polo sophomore: Ingalla, who earned her share of honors as a Falcon to the tune of All-CIF, All-Area and All-Pacific League accolades, added All-Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honorable mention to her resume.
The defender led the Regals with 69 steals and nine field blocks. Five field blocks and 25 steals came in SCIAC play.
In addition, she had 37 goals (second-best on the team) and 13 assists, while starting in 26 games and playing in 27.
Cal Lu finished the season at 13-15, 7-4 in SCIAC. The Regals finished the season winning five of their last six matches, including a 17-9 win over Chapman on April 28 in the season finale. Ingala had two goals.
Lonnie Kauppila (Glendale native, Burbank High, 2010) junior, infielder, Stanford University: The former Bulldogs standout was successful on the field, as well as in the classroom this season.
Along with his accomplishments as a junior infielder for the Cardinal, Kauppila, who played for Crescenta Valley High two season before transferring to Burbank, was one of 13 Stanford players named to the Pacific-12 Conference Baseball All-Academic Team. Kauppila was an honorable mention honoree.
Stanford saw its season come to an end May 26 with a 6-4 Pac-12 loss to UCLA at home.
Stanford ended the campaign with a 32-22 overall record and was 16-14 in the Pac-12 for fifth place.
The Cardinal closed its regular season by winning six of its last 10 games and three of those losses were at the hands of top-10-ranked squads. The Cardinal was hoping to earn a postseason bid, but did not receive an invitation to the NCAA Championships.
For the season, Kauppila batted .271 (36 for 133) with 20 runs scored, 16 runs batted in, six doubles and 18 walks. In addition, he started 44 of 48 games for the Cardinal in the infield and had a .957 fielding percentage.
Kauppila was able to bounce back from a knee injury his sophomore season that forced him to miss the final two months of the campaign. That injury cut short a productive season in which Kauppila hit .280, scored 16 runs, drove in 13 runs.
Justin Posthuma (St. Francis High, 2011) redshirt freshman, Pasadena City College: Posthuma will be taking his talents southeast soon as the St. Francis High product accepted a grant-in scholarship to attend Southeastern Louisiana University, a Division I Football Championship Subdivision team that participates in the Southland Conference and is located in Hammond, La.
“Justin is a kid that has a good arm and he brings experience in playing the game to our football team,” Southeastern Coach Ron Roberts stated via the school’s website. “He’ll give us another experienced quarterback who will add depth at the position and you can never have too many of them.”
A series of injuries have pestered Posthuma, a former All-Area pick, throughout his career, as Posthuma initially began his collegiate career at UCLA before transferring to PCC.
Posthuma showed flashes of brilliance right out of the gate, including when the former All-CIF Southern Section Western Division pick completed 18 of 22 passes for 323 yards and five touchdown strikes in the 2011 season opener for the Lancers, a 49-28 victory over Glendale Community College.
In that contest, Posthuma connected with wide receiver Jose Rodriguez for the longest pass play in PCC’s 88-year history, a 96-yard TD pass, which earned him the SCFA Offensive Player of the Week award.
Yet, the very next week, Posthuma was knocked for the season with a severe ankle sprain.
Last year, Posthuma threw for 799 yards, while completing 60 of 126 passes in another season marred with injuries.