Paige Logan has rarely met a sport she didn’t like – or at least try. Not a week after graduating, Los Altos High’s Senior Female Athlete of the Year was giving another sport a go.
“I’m getting scuba certified,” Logan said from Hawaii, where she was vacationing with her family last week. “I’m going for advance certification.”
Of course she was. When Logan takes something on, she goes all-out. Her success in sports – and in the classroom – is proof of that.
The Los Altos resident excelled in all four sports she played at Los Altos – volleyball, basketball, softball and track and field – making 11 varsity teams. Outside of school, she played on club teams in all those sports – plus soccer – and competed in karate as a black belt.
Academically, Logan maintained a 4.5 GPA through high school, earned a perfect score on the ACT and a 2,240 on the SAT.
Just how did she do so much so well?
“Lots of sleep on the weekends.” Logan said jokingly.
Admittedly “not a morning person,” Logan likes to make the most of the hours she is awake. Throughout high school, Logan went from one athletic endeavor to the next without a break and often competed in multiple sports in the same season.
She devoted her falls to volleyball and AYSO soccer, winters to basketball and club volleyball, and springs to track and field, softball and more club volleyball (except for her senior year, when she skipped softball). Logan’s summers were filled with an array of club sports – softball, basketball and track.
“The hardest part in transitioning to high school was deciding what sports to do,” said Logan, who played six sports at Blach Junior High. “Choosing between soccer and basketball was really hard.”
Basketball ranks as Logan’s favorite sport because “you can have a big impact as an individual in a team sport. You can make what you want out of it.”
Logan’s favorite sports memories involve basketball. She is most proud of helping the Eagles as a junior make the playoffs for the first time in five years. Then there was her performance in a junior-varsity game as a freshman.
“We were in a tournament in San Francisco playing Homestead in the consolation game, and I scored 26 points,” Logan said. “I had the worst day the day before – it was terrible and I was feeling really bad – and I took it out on the other team. We won, too, and I was really happy.”
As a senior, the 6-foot center was named to the SCVAL El Camino Division First Team and voted Offensive Player of the Year by her teammates. Logan averaged 13 points per game and for the second year in a row averaged 18 rebounds, placing her eighth in the nation in that category.
Logan’s performance in the paint – hustling and out-muscling opponents for the ball – led to her throwing the shot put and discus.
“I didn’t throw freshman year,” she said. “The track coach (Gerri Baldwin) saw me at a basketball game, thought I seemed strong and sent the team captain to talk to me. I’ve thanked (the coach) for that several times since.”
Track may be Logan’s best sport. She qualified for the Central Coast Section finals in the shot put her junior and senior years. Los Altos’ co-MVP this season, Logan has thrown the shot put as far 39 feet and the discus 117.
The coaches at Stanford and Duke universities recruited Logan for track, but she turned them down in favor of the California Institute of Technology, a small Division III college in Pasadena.
“It was a hard choice, but I didn’t want to go to a Division I (school) because it would be more of a job for me,” said Logan, interested in studying environmental science and engineering. “Sports is more of an outlet – it’s fun.”
The opportunity to play several sports at Caltech also appealed to Logan. She plans to go out for volleyball, basketball and track. Logan wants to join the band as well; she played the alto saxophone in the Los Altos High marching band.
Logan has found music and sports to be great distractions from the extensive essays, potential pop quizzes and hours of homework that come with being an Advanced Placement student.
“When you’re at practice or a game you can’t be worried about a 10-page paper – you’re focused on what you’re doing there,” said the Presidential Scholar semifinalist. “You get to take a break.”
Logan’s idea of a break involves little rest, however. She works as hard on her sports as she does her studies.
“Paige really sets herself apart from other athletes because of her tremendous work ethic and dedication to athletics,” Los Altos volleyball coach Jason Kennedy said. “She is usually the first one in the gym ready to work and puts 110 percent into everything she does.”
A middle blocker in volleyball, Logan averaged four blocks and four kills per match as a senior and earned SCVAL De Anza Division Honorable Mention distinction. Logan credits Kennedy, among others, for contributing to her success in sports.
“I’ve had really awesome coaches and a dad kicking me in the butt to go to practice when I didn’t feel like it,” she said with a chuckle. “My parents and coaches have been really supportive.”
Los Altos High girls basketball coach Keith Mims called Logan “a coach’s dream. She is not just a great athlete in all the sports that she participates in – she is also a great student, leader and a caring person.”
Contact Pete Borello at [email protected].
