Mathew Cortes honored as the 2025 Stallion of the Year

Stallion of the Year and runners-up honored at senior awards night.

Sofia Bello, Sydney Hogancamp, and Zaleeya Dhalla • May 28, 2025

Graduating Seniors and their families come together for the San Juan Hills High School award ceremony, where lucky students get awarded for their academic and moral excellence. Principal, Cina Abedzadeh awards Evan Lau for having the best grade point average in his senior class, Alexandra Easton, Trustees Lisa Zollinger and Gila Jones all clap and celebrate Lau’s success.

The Stallion of the Year winner was announced on May 20 at the Senior Awards ceremony.

Every year, five seniors are nominated to receive The Stallion of the Year Award. This award is given to a student who demonstrates school spirit, values their academics, and rides for the brand. Prior to selection, several SJHHS staff members meet with the nomination, and hold interviews with each student.

The nominees for the 2024-2025 school year were: Eliza Bourne, Matthew Cortes, Luke Dunphy, Zach Smith, and Wendy Rodriguez.

The winner of the 2025 Stallion of the Year is Matthew Cortes

To learn more read each of their bios below.

Stallion of The Year

Matthew Cortes

Throughout his four years at San Juan Hills High School, Matthew has fully em-Graced what it means to be a Stallion. As a first-generation student from a Hispanic background, he has excelled in rigorous coursework while dedicating himself to service and mentorship.

Graduating with 11 AP courses, 6 honors classes, and advanced college-level coursework such as Calculus 3, Matthew has demonstrated an unwavering dedication to academic excellence, earning distinctions such as AP Scholar with Distinction, National First-Generation Recognition, and National Hispanic Recognition. With a 4.5 GPA, his drive to challenge himself reflects his deep passion for continuous learning.

Beyond academics, Matthew's commitment to his school community is evident in his extracurricular involvement. He has been an active member of the Orchestra, Interact Club, and HCC/LatinX Club, where he has contributed to fostering an inclusive and engaged environment for his peers. His dedication to personal and academic growth has made him a role model among his peers.

A seven-year participant in the AVID program-including four years at San Juan Hills— Matthew has used his experience to mentor younger students, guiding them toward success. As part of the Simon Scholar program, where he serves as an ambassador, he actively encourages fellow AVID students to apply, ensuring they take advantage of the same transformative opportunities that have shaped his journey. Matthew's passion for mentorship extends beyond AVID. While providing academic support in National Honor Society, his most impactful experience has been tutoring middle schoolers through Breakthrough, a program he's been involved with since middle school. He has also dedicated over 150 hours of service to Breakthrough, helping to shape the future of young scholars.

Matthew plans to accept his offer and attend the University of Southern California's Viterbi School of Engineering where he will pursue a degree in Aerospace Engineering.

Eliza Bourne

A positive student on campus, Eliza Bourne is well-known around SJHHS for being a friendly face on campus and being strongly involved in school events.

Bourne has loved singing her way through school, from National Anthem performances at sports events to studying classical music in Vocal Conservatory. She’s a Section Leader and Choir Board Member, and has spent every year at San Juan in the top choir permitted for her grade. She is co-President of the student-run Jazz Ensemble and has been selected for the Southern California Honor Choir every year as well as the State Honor Choir.

Bourne enjoyed participating in other Arts, winning First in the District for Photography in the Reflections competition and dabbling in theater with San Juan’s Beauty and the Beast and Les Miserables Productions. Alongside her artistic endeavors, she has run for the Varsity Cross-Country Team. And as a team captain for Track and Field, Bourne has had fun hurdling and helping the team achieve back-to-back Sea View League Championships.

Over the years, she’s learned that, cheesy as it may sound, people are happiest when they’re helping others. She’s worked to incorporate that into her life as CSF President, President of the Pink Ribbon Club, and Co-President of the JustServe Club. Her favorite way to serve is with the Spanish language she began learning in kindergarten in the dual-immersion program. She’s also worked the past few years to help bring the Crystal Apple Awards ceremony for our great educators and staff.

Though she leaves for BYU soon, Bourne has loved being a Stallion and will proudly continue to RFTB!

Luke Dunphy

Luke Dunphy has contributed to San Juan Hills High School through unwavering school spirit, deep involvement in the performing arts, and academic excellence.

He has brought dynamic characters to life as a lead and supporting actor in sixteen productions, earning seven nominations and winning ten awards in various shows from CETA, Spirit of the Macy, Pony, Cappies, and JRay Awards. Beyond performing, Dunphy is a National Honors Thespian in the SJHHS International Thespian Society Troupe and was named Thespian of the Month multiple times.

Balancing his artistic pursuits with academics, Dunphy has a 4.7 GPA while taking nine AP courses, earning AP Scholar with Distinction. A two-time winner of The Spirit of the Stallion Award, he is a member of the National Honor Society, providing math tutoring to his peers. In addition to theatre, Dunphy has demonstrated leadership in the school's top choral ensemble, serving as the Chamber Tenor 1 Section Leader and performing at festivals and conferences across California. He also represented SJHHS with the choir in Greece.

Beyond the stage and classroom, Dunphy embodied the community spirit at SJHHS as Homecoming King and host of Stallion Showcase. Dunphy will attend Texas Christian University on a full tuition Chancellor Scholarship, studying mechanical engineering. On his next adventure at TCU, he will continue to Ride for the Brand, carrying the lessons of collaboration, community, academics, and dedication that have defined his high school legacy.

Zachary Smith

Zach decided to give Men's Chorus a try his freshman year, not knowing how integral choir would be in his life. As a 4 year member and 2 year president of Vocal Ensemble (the student-led choir, he finds joy bringing music to everyone, while serving as a Chamber Choir section leader. Performing in church, district and regional Honor Choirs, Zach is energized not just by the privilege to sing with a variety of talent, but to gather and unite those around him. He worked as a piano teacher for 3 years. As a senior, he auditioned for his first high school musical and was thrilled and grateful to perform as Marius in Les Miserables. singing Handel's Hallelujah Chorus with the Disneyland Candlelight Choir for 2 years was a crowning achievement in his musical career.

He's completed 8 AP classes while maintaining a 4.6 GPA. Zach chose to study Mandarin through BYU High School on his own. He ran Cross Country for two years and played Volleyball all four years, finishing his last two years on the Varsity team.

His goal each day is to brighten someone's life. At the end of his high school experience, he hopes that he helped to build and strengthen those around him. Zach will attend BYU beginning in June, majoring in History, with plans to serve a 2-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and ultimately attend law school.

Wendy Rodriguez

Wendy Rodriguez is a First-Generation College Bound student at San Juan Hills High School who has made a tremendous impact on her school and community. Passionate about education, leadership, and service, she has dedicated herself to uplifting those around her while excelling academically. Wendy has been Riding for the Brand all four years as a Stallion, actively involved in several clubs such as AVID, No Place for Hate, Hispanic Career Club, Latinx Unidos, UNIDOS OC, and Link Crew. She has also committed to the OC Sheriff’s Explorer Program, balancing her extracurriculars while successfully completing five AP courses and maintaining a high GPA.

Determined to challenge herself, Wendy has enrolled in rigorous courses at both SJHHS and Saddleback College, taking 6-7 courses simultaneously while participating in leadership and service events each semester. She is known for her strong work ethic, problem-solving skills, and ability to lead by example. As a Latina leader, Wendy takes pride in merging her cultural heritage with her passion for education, becoming a true bilingual, bicultural and biliterate role model, who has left a positive impact on our campus and community for years to come.

Beyond academics, Wendy has been a dedicated advocate for her school and community, giving countless hours to service initiatives. Her leadership extends to mentoring peers, assisting future Stallions, and fostering an inclusive environment. She is a driven and compassionate student whose commitment to education, service, and cultural awareness reflects her desire to make a lasting impact.

Wendy Rodriguez will be attending UC Merced in Fall 2025, where she plans to double major in Political Science and Spanish. With aspirations to use her education to create meaningful change, she is determined to make the world a better place for future generations.

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About the Contributors

Sofia Bello, Arts & Entertainment

Sofia is a senior at San Juan Hills High School and is returning for her fourth and final year here on The Express. She has a strong passion for reading, baking, and could listen to music all day. She loves the color pink, watching sunsets, and spending time with her best friend. In the future she hopes to study criminal psychology and criminal justice as well as own a fashion line one day. Inside of school she is a part of NHS, CSF, Creative writing club, and Publishing club. She cannot wait for another year full of new friendships, fun, and spreading the voices of her community.

Sydney Hogancamp, Sports Editor

Sydney Hogancamp is a senior at San Juan Hills High School and this is her third year in The Express Newspaper. She is a bilingual student, being fluent in both Spanish and English, and she is the Spanish and Sports Editor for The Express. She plays for the San Juan Hills girls varsity flag football team. Outside of school, she enjoys spending time with friends and family, as well as playing club flag football. She hopes to pursue a career in the sports industry.

Zaleeya Dhalla, Staff Wrtiter

Zaleeya Dhalla is a junior at San Juan Hills High School. This is her second year on The Express staff and she is overjoyed to strengthen her writing and people skills. She is very business savvy due to her girl scouts experience and her jewelry business. She is a creative and helpful person hoping to attend college and a career in cosmetology and Arts Education after high school.

Cadence Henss, Staff Writer

Cadence Henss is a Sophomore at San Juan Hills High School, it’s her first year on The Express Newspaper. In her free time she enjoys reading historical fiction novels, making jewelry, volunteering, and watching movies at the theater. This year she wants to enhance her writing skills, get good grades, and become more involved in the school and community. Cadence is open to writing anything and everything, as she wants to expand her knowledge about writing this year, so she can better set herself up for a career in English and Journalism in the future.

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