Hilltop High School senior Trevor Fune uses three words to describe himself: humble, dedicated and hardworking.
One might also add caring, compassionate and intelligent.
“I would say teachers would say that I’m responsible, independent, helpful, polite, that I’m an academic and academic achiever, as well as goal-oriented,” the new 2020 Lancer graduate said.
Fune carries a 4.35 weighted grade-point average (4.0 unweighted) while completing 14 semesters of advanced placement (AP) classes in world history, United States history, chemistry, calculus AB, calculus BC, U.S. government and statistics. He’s also logged four semesters of honors classes in chemistry and English along with four semesters of accelerated courses in biology and English.
He will attend San Diego State University to study kinesiology, with an honors minor in interdisciplinary studies. He wants to eventually become a physician assistant and, in his words, “help people get better every day.”
Hard work and goal-setting appears to run in the family.
Both his parents have backgrounds in education. His father Pat has a BBA in business/finance from National University while his mother Liza has a BA in public administration from San Diego State University.
Fune has a 23-year-old brother, Phillip Fune, a 2014 Hilltop graduate, who is a senior at SDSU studying kinesiology. As a Lancer, Phillip Fune played two years of football, four years of roller hockey, with one league championship, and strove hard to subsequently make the club ice hockey team at SDSU as a walk-on.
Trevor Fune said his academic record is an accurate measure of his ability and potential.
“It shows that I have challenged myself and have been successful in college-level honors and AP classes,” he said.
He said his greatest strength is his ability to understand new concepts quickly and be able to apply them to solve problems.
“I have especially used this strength in both the AP math and science classes I’ve taken,” he said.
Other strengths include his humbleness and humility, which he developed at an early age.
“In June 2010, my family and I went to our church to build a house for an underprivileged family in Tijuana,” Fune related. “This experience helped me appreciate and understand how fortunate I am, and not to take things for granted.
“I am very passionate about helping others. I have pursued my interest in this by giving back to my community through volunteering. I have also worked very hard in high school so that I can become a Physician Assistant (PA) in the future and be able to help people to a greater extent.”
Fune has volunteered over 130-plus hours at Eastlake Church, the Chula Vista Public Library, and at the Rock Church’s Toys for Joy Christmas events.
Participation in athletics has made Fune a true scholar-athlete.
“One of my greatest weaknesses when I first entered high school was my ability to communicate,” he said. “However, I have overcome this weakness by meeting new people and taking on leadership roles on my sports teams.”
He has earned nine varsity letters in three sports, including four in roller hockey, three in boys lacrosse and two in football.
He also has played competitive travel ice hockey as an eighth grader and freshman on the Kroc Center Saints. He gave up ice hockey, with a chance to play Midget A or AA as he deemed it wouldn’t be possible for him to make practicing and conditioning on the hockey team, and play high school sports at the same time.
But ice hockey’s loss was roller hockey’s gain.
Fune was among 13 seniors on this season’s Lancer roller hockey team that successfully defended its Mesa League championship, and posted one of the top records in program’s history at 20-1 during regular season play.
Of particular note, Fune captured the Sweetwater district season scoring title with 118 points on 84 goals and 34 assists.
Trailing Bonita Vista sophomore Maxwell Anderson by a wide margin at midseason, Fune put his mind to winning the scoring title, and finally passed Maxwell by three points in the final game of the regular season.
It was a dramatic showcase performance as Fune netted 10 points (eight goals, two assists) to pass Maxwell on the scoring chart.
Fune earned honors at the 2019-20 Mesa League Player of the Year. He ended the season with 125 total points (89 goals, 36 assists) following the third-seeded Lancers’ 10-9 loss to Cathedral Catholic in the quarterfinal round of the 2020 Kiwanis Cup playoffs.
He led his team with five goals and two assists in what proved to be the final game of the careers for Hilltop’s large complement of seniors that also included Isaiah Macias, Justin Sanchez, Alexis Samaniego, Jacob Lopez, Victor Guzman, Gabriel Love, Anthony Alvarez, Nico Sandoval, Giovanni Melendrez, Eliana Rodriguez, Andrea Chavira and Nieves Aleman.
The core group had been together since their freshman season, winning two league championships.
Fune emerged as the leader of the group
“This journey has really been incredible,” he explained. “Most of us didn’t know even know how to skate when we first started, so to be able to see everyone get better and better every year to eventually become the team that we are today was something that I was glad to be a part of.
“I felt very honored to win the scoring title and league player of the year, but I was even more proud of what we had been able to accomplish as a team. We worked very hard throughout the year and it definitely payed off. I couldn’t have asked for a better final season.”
Leading by example wasn’t something new for Fune after serving in leadership roles on the three sports teams he played for during his junior and senior years.
He was a varsity assistant captain on the 2018-19 roller hockey team, varsity captain on the 2019-20 roller hockey team, fourth captain on the football team, and one of the varsity captains on the 2020 boys lacrosse team.
A four-year principal’s honor roll recipient and California Scholastic Federation (CSF) life member, he also earned academic/athletic honors as a San Diego Chapter of the National Football Foundation scholar-leader-athlete awardee.
Fune played in 11 football games his senior year, recording 55 tackles, one sack, one interception and one fumble recovery as the second-seeded Lancers finished the 2019 season with an overall 9-2 record and a berth in the San Diego Section Division III quarterfinals.
He played in 20 career varsity football games with 70 tackles, including 24 unassisted stops, two interceptions and two caused fumbles.
He was named the team’s most improved player in 2019.
“Playing sports has greatly influenced my growth and character because it has taught me important lessons such as hard work, perseverance and teamwork,” he said.
Hilltop boys lacrosse coach Pete Bishop pointed to those qualities in Fune becoming a three-year letter-winner in the sport while receiving kudos as the team’s co-rookie of the year in 2018 and most improved player in 2019.
“He was notable for his hard work both in and out of season and his positive response to coaching,” Bishop explained. “He had worked his way up to starting attackman and was one of the team leaders on offense. In the short three-game 2020 season he had nine points — four goals and five assists — leading the team in the latter category. He was a team leader both in the game and during practice.”
Amazingly, Fune has balanced his academic and athletic workload while also maintaining a part-time job at a local eatery.
Call it food for thought.
