Best male athletes

The top five high school male athletes to come out of Monterey County over the last 10 years.

1. Ronnie Drummer, North Salinas: Rushed for over 1,700 yards as a senior at North Salinas, earning a football scholarship to Duke.
 Drummer started all four years in basketball and placed second in the state track finals in the 100 meters, breaking Olympic gold medalist Alvin Harrison's school record.
 He also placed in the state finals in the 200 as a junior and senior.

2. Devin Pearson, Carmel: Put up fantasy type numbers at quarterback for Carmel for three years, throwing for nearly 8,000 yards while rushing or throwing for 75 touchdowns.

 Pearson started all four years in basketball and baseball, earning all-county honors in all three sports. He was drafted by the Blue Jays, but took a baseball scholarship to Cal, hitting over .300 last spring.

3. Michael Phillips, Monterey: Led the Monterey Bay League in rushing as a senior as a quarterback. Phillips also ran the point for the Toreadores basketball team.

 Phillips won CCS track titles in the 200 and 400 meter sprints as well as the 1,600 relay, running a leg on the Toreadores third place state finishing 1,600 relay team.

4. Steve Ventimilia, Monterey: Having lettered in seven varsity sports over four years, Ventimilia earned all-league honors in four sports.

 As a senior, he quarterbacked Monterey to a league title and a spot in the CCS finals. He also led the baseball team to a CCS title in 2011, earning The Herald's Baseball Player of the Year.

 As a junior, he earned all-league honors in the spring in tennis, track and baseball. Ventimilia is the starting second baseman at the University of Hawaii.

5. Luke Lippincott, Palma: Rushed for over 1,000 yards in leading Palma to its last CCS Open Division title in 2004.

 As a junior, Lippincott was an all-league wrestler and baseball player, while reaching the state track championships in the 400.

 Lippincott was part of a Nevada backfield where three players rushed for over 1,000 yards in the same season, included Colin Kaepernick.

 Others to consider: Orlando Johnson, Palma; Jermaine Carter, Seaside, Joseph Collins, Seaside, Michael Avila, Seaside; Brian Bhaskar, Stevenson; Mason Foster, Seaside; Carl Nicks, North Salinas; Alvin Jelks, Salinas.