St. Joseph’s Jazmin Mendoza has racked up impressive accolades this spring.
The senior soccer player and cheerleader was recently named St. Joseph’s Student Athlete of the Year. The straight-A student is also her class valedictorian and was selected to give a speech at the graduation ceremony on Thursday, May 21.
“It means a lot to me,” Mendoza said. “I put so much work into my academics and to have it all pay off and be recognized as valedictorian means a lot. To be on top of my class is such an honor.”
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Not only was Mendoza able to balance her activities during her four years at St. Joe’s, she impressed her father, Mario Mendoza, by making it look easy.
“She doesn’t get home until 7 or 8 p.m. because of soccer, cheerleading and school,” Mario Mendoza said. “She set the bar so high for herself and I was just there to back her up. She’s my first-born daughter and I’m just the proudest father in the world. I knew she was special the day she was born.”
Jazmin Mendoza, who is set to attend Michigan in the fall, gives St. Joe’s (8-2) credit for her achievements as a student athlete.
“I could not have made a better decision on where to go to high school,” she said. “I went in there really shy and not at all confident, but I blossomed as a person. My leadership skills developed and I got so much better in cheerleading and soccer.”
The Chargers’ soccer season came to an abrupt end with a 5-3 loss to Westmont in the Class 1A Westmont Regional championship on Friday, May 15. St. Joseph was the No. 1 seed and hoped to repeat as regional champion.
“There’s 15 or 16 seniors on the team and that was our last time playing together, so the loss was really tough and we all got emotional,” Jazmin Mendoza said. “One thing our coach said was that we never gave up. This season didn’t go as planned, but we grew a lot closer to each other and our coaches and in the end we really did enjoy ourselves.”
Jazmin Mendoza will fondly recall the athletic highlights of her senior year. In addition to being one of the best players on the soccer team, she cheered the boys basketball team on its way to the Class 3A state title in March.
“That was amazing,” she said. “They took the cheerleaders with to state and we stayed in a hotel. We felt included and as seniors it was great to have that amazing accomplishment for our class.”
St. Joseph soccer coach Stanley Niemiec said Jazmin Mendoza was important to the Chargers’ back line.
“We are lucky to have her organize the defense and she’s a great leader for the team,” Niemiec said. “Jazmin has developed her technical and tactical skills in leaps and bounds, making her one of our most valuable defensive players.”
Valentin is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.