**Isaiah Dunn and Alyssa Ledesma were awarded the Cecilia Ronin Scholar Athlete Award at St. Paul High School in Santa Fe Springs. (Photo by Keith Durflinger)**

SANTA FE SPRINGS – Two athletes who have been on varsity of their primary sport all four years and achieved numerous honors in the classroom, have been named the Cecilia Ronan Memorial Scholar Athlete Award for the year 2021-22 at St. Paul High School.

Alyssa Ledezma and Isaiah Dunn, who will be off to major universities this Fall, rose above the top, combining sport and academics at a high level in their high school careers.

Ledezma, who played all four years on varsity volleyball and combined that with an overall 4.8 GPA, ends her athletic career, but will attend UCLA, concentrating on her studies, majoring in Political Science.

Dunn, who transferred in to St. Paul as a junior from Sacramento, played varsity at both schools for two years each in football and also ran track and played basketball, will attend Notre Dame as a Preferred Walk On (PFO) on the famed Fighting Irish football team.

Coincidentally, volleyball and football were also represented as the 2021-22 Male and Female Don Ward Athletes of the Year, with Rebecca Topete and Jordan Williams winning the award (See story in June 10 issue).

“Isaiah and Alyssa not only made an impact on the teams they were involved in, they left their imprint on St. Paul High School’s community,” Athletic Director Rich Avina said.

“Alyssa is the epitome of a Student-Athlete. She earned our Salutatorian award because of her commitment to academics, yet was able to balance the demands of being a leader on the Volleyball team all while being a well-rounded humble young lady. She has earned the respect of all those she came into contact with.

“Isaiah made an impact the moment he stepped foot on campus. He is the consummate team player whose positive attitude is infectious to those around him. He dominated on the field, court, and track but most importantly he dominated in the classroom.”

Alyssa Ledezma

**Volleyball player, Alyssa Ledesma, was awarded the Cecilia Ronin Female Scholar Athlete Award at St. Paul High School in Santa Fe Springs. (Photo by Keith Durflinger)**

“My four years at St. Paul High school was filled with sentiments, memories, adversities and self-fulfillment,” said Ledezma, who also played one year of basketball in her freshman year. “Learning how to manage my time was the biggest factor in being a student-athlete – going to practice, then coming home and doing my homework and just prioritizing school and sports as the first things in my life.”

Some of those achievements Ledezma accomplished were: Salutatorian, Principals Honor Roll with distinction, National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, CSF member, National English Honor Society, Swordsmen Honors and Ambassador Excellence Award.

Ledezma, who struggled a bit as a freshman, ended her first year on a high note.

“As a freshman on varsity, I felt a lot of pressure to prove myself to my teammates and coaches and to uphold my grades,” she said. “Although I struggled at times due to poor time management, I finished the school year with principal’s honor roll with distinction and student athlete.”

Things continued to get tough for the sophomore on the court, but her studies once again flourished.

“My confidence dwindled and I was never able to truly step back onto the court as the player that I once was,” she added.

However, honors came her way both as a sophomore and especially in her junior year, when the season was cancelled due to the pandemic.

Everything changed for the better for Ledezma this past season on the court and even more in the classroom.

“Entering my senior year, I felt a lot of pressure to redeem myself on the court, to stay within the top five students, and to raise my confidence,” Ledezma said. “As many athletes and students know, lack of confidence is the ultimate obstacle. Fortunately, I was able to conquer it in my senior year.”

Emiliano Mendoza, who was there for these past three years as head coach, saw a big team improvement with a second place in the Del Rey League and an improvement from Ledezma along the way.

**Volleyball player, Alyssa Ledesma, with coach Emiliano Mendoza at St. Paul High School in Santa Fe Springs. (Photo by Keith Durflinger)**

“From day one, Alyssa displayed the competitiveness you want to see in a player,” he said. “She didn’t get much playing time her freshman year, but you could see in practices that it was there. In her sophomore year, while competing for the starting job with three others, is when I feel she truly got the taste for wanting to be on the court at all times.

“Whether it was tough defense, strong serving or being a leader on the court, Alyssa truly shined in her senior year for us.”

Ledezma summed up her senior year.

“As a senior setter, I naturally stepped into my role as a captain and leader on the court,” she said. “With the help of the coaches and my teammates, we were able to achieve our goal of becoming league champions. As an individual player I was selected as a First-Team, All-Del Rey League player.

“I think learning how to communicate with everyone that would benefit myself and the team is what led me to be a captain on the team.”

“My greatest gratitude goes to my parents and God, whom have always kept my best interest,” concluded Ledezma. “As a graduate, I will now embark on a new journey, as I transition from a Swordsman to a Bruin and spend the next four years at UCLA.”

Isaiah Dunn

“I am a highly motivated student-athlete driven to enhance skill, knowledge and experience, while equipping my tool box with means by which I can best serve my fellow man.

That pretty much sums up Isaiah Dunn.

Not only is Dunn an exceptional athlete, but away from sport, he has mounted numerous accolades in his first year and a half at Sacramento’s Capital Christian High School and final two and a half years at St. Paul.

Perhaps the biggest award was after his high school career was concluded, he earned a Preferred Walk On (PFO) status for quarterback at the University of Notre Dame in football.

Dunn, who started his freshman year for the Cougars and made an immediate impact on defense, becomes the second player from St. Paul to play football for the Irish.

“There are so many people who worked for Isaiah to make this happen,” St. Paul Football coach Rick Zepeda said. “I never realized how long the arms of our program are, when it came to getting Isaiah an opportunity to play at Notre Dame.

“There are so many people who worked for Isaiah to make this happen,” Zepeda added. “I never realized how long the arms of our program are, when it came to getting Isaiah an opportunity to play at Notre Dame.

“From the day they (mom Kathy and Isaiah) arrived, it was as if the Dunn’s and St. Paul, were longtime friends. We all hit it off from the start. Our faith and values as a school and program where too close to pass up, and two years later, Isaiah is leaving St. Paul with a 4.5 GPA and heading to Notre Dame University to play football.”

Dunn began his first years of high school at Capital Christian and made an immediate impact on the football field, as he made two interceptions as a safety in his first varsity game.

“That really set me off basically through the whole year,” said Dunn, in an interview with Ryan Wright of Recruiting News Guru.

Dunn would explode in his sophomore year with eight picks for the Cougars and would earn All-Capital Athletic honors both years. He would also earn the Cougar Leader Award for track, basketball and football.

Dunn’s quarterback trainer, Danny Hernandez, recommended he visit bigger schools when they moved to Southern California. But he also mentioned St. Paul and that’s all it took.

**Isaiah Dunn talks with football coach Rick Zepeda at St. Paul High School in Santa Fe Springs. (Photo by Keith Durflinger)**

“Together (Dunn’s mother and Isaiah) pursued his dreams of being a division one (high school) quarterback,” Zepeda said. “I credit her trust in us and faith in God, as the strength of Isaiah’s accomplishments today.”

As he entered his first year at St. Paul, the season would be delayed because of the pandemic until the Spring of ’22.

However, the Swordsmen struggled in the shortened season. “Interceptions, sacks, runs for loss, was the common theme in his first season as a varsity quarterback,” Zepeda said.

“But Isaiah never flinched. I would scold him for making mistakes when he came to sideline and he would shrug me off, with ‘yes sir’, and ‘I’ll do better next time’ or ‘I got this’ I would just sigh and walk away, because his confidence in himself made me a believer, even when things were not going well.”

Isaiah Dunn’s accomplishments: Academic Scholarship, Provost Scholarship, Notre Dame Club of LA Scholarship, National Football Foundation, Principals Honor Roll with distinction, CSF member, National English Honor Society, Outstanding Christian Service, Adam J Rosales Scholarship recipient, Dean Diomedes Scholarship recipient, Santa Fe Springs Rotary Student of the Month.

Away from the classroom and his studies was his leading part in the school play, “The Addams Family” and his hundreds of volunteer hours through his four years.

On the field, in the gym and on the track his awards are: D4 All-CIF (football) Basketball All-Camino Real League (Jr. and Sr.), Football All-League (Frosh, Soph, Sr.), All-Conference (Sr.), Track MVP (Sr.), 800, 1600, 4x4.

Coach Zepeda summed up Isaiah Dunn and what may come of his legacy,

“They have already made a movie about an overachieving player, achieving his dream of running on the field as a player at Notre Dame called ‘Rudy’,” said Zepeda.

“I cannot wait to see the sequel, called ‘Dunn Right’, because no one is going to outwork Isaiah when he decides he wants to do something.”

Isaiah Dunn couldn’t express enough the help he received to get to the next level. “Thank you, God, for making this all possible and to all of my teammates, coaches and everyone else who contributed to my success, I will be attending my next four years at the University of Notre Dame. Go Irish,” he concluded.

Alyssa Ledezma, Isaiah Dunn rise above the rest

Alyssa Ledezma

Isaiah Dunn