From Hilo, Hawaii in the west to Waltham, Mass. more than 5,000 miles to the east, 13 members of the class of 2011 at Point Loma High School (PLHS) will be continuing their athletic careers at various universities. Three members of the Pointer football team will take their talents to the next level.  When defensive lineman Christian Heyward announced his acceptance of a full athletic scholarship from the University of Southern California, he ended months of competition between several major universities. The 6-foot-3-inch, 280-pounder was listed among the nation’s top college recruits and will play in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Pac 10 conference for the Trojans after recording 86 tackles and eight sacks during his senior season at PLHS. Running back and defensive back Tommy Bell will be taking the field for the College of St. Joseph in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Lions compete in NCAA Division III, and play in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference. At 5 feet, 10 inches and 195 pounds, Bell led the Dogs’ defense with eight interceptions this year. Pointers quarterback Sean McKaveney will be throwing passes at Claremont McKenna College. Despite missing several games with an injury, McKaveney threw for 1,096 yards and 13 touchdowns. With only 1,200 undergraduates, athletes from Claremont, Harvey Mudd College and Scripps College compete under one program known as CMS Athletics. The Claremont McKenna Stags are in the NCAA Division III and members of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Baseball standout Campbell Wear will don the uniform of the University of California, Santa Barbara Gauchos, an NCAA Division I program that competes in the Big West Conference. Wear spends most of his time for the Pointers behind the plate or on the mound, and wields a powerful bat that impressed Gaucho coaches. Teammate Kellen Urbon, who excels as a pitcher, will take on academic and athletic challenges at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. The Big Red is a member of the NCAA Division I Ivy League. Urbon led his team in home runs last season and is off to a 2-0 start pitching this season. Girls’ soccer player Carly Holly will be getting her kicks at Westmont College near Santa Barbara. The Warriors are members of the Golden State Athletic Conference, a part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Holly, a striker/midfielder, tied for the team lead with seven goals this season for the league champion Pointers and received a full athletic scholarship. Boys’ soccer midfielder Kenny Ortega will travel the shortest distance after accepting an offer from nearby Point Loma Nazarene University. Ortega, who led his team in scoring (eight goals, two assists) will take his shots for the Sea Lions, who belong to the Golden State Athletic Conference (NAIA). Also staying close to home will be girls’ water polo goalkeeper Samantha Pugh, who recorded a 4.7 goals-against average for the Pointers. Pugh plans to stop shots for San Diego State University, where the Aztecs play in the NCAA Division I Mountain West Conference. Another Pointer pool star, swimmer Erin Cox, will showcase her skills in the desert. Cox will become a Rebel at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The NCAA Division I school is also a member of the Mountain West Conference. Cross country and long-distance track runner Meghan Breadmore will take her state finals-level talents to picturesque California Polytechnic, San Luis Obispo, where she will run for the Mustangs. The university is NCAA Division I and a member of the Big West Conference. From the resurgent Pointer volleyball team, Jordy Checkal will be setting for her new teammates at Arizona State University. The Sun Devils, located in Tempe, Ariz., are members of the NCAA Division I Pac 10 Conference. Going home for weekends and holidays won’t be a quick jaunt for softball player Ashley Nelson. The Pointer team captain will be swinging her bat in warm tropical breezes at the University of Hawaii’s Hilo campus. The NCAA Division II Vulcans are members of the PacWest Conference. Girls’ tennis standout Carley Cooke will be packing her racquet to Brandeis University. Located in Waltham, Mass., a suburb of Boston, Cooke, who is a state-ranked player, will be competing for the NCAA Division III Judges, who are members of the University Athletic Association. This latest group of PLHS student-athletes represents one of the largest sets of athletic scholarship recipients for the school.