Virgen: ‘Fourth Gen’ graduates from Newport Harbor

The big day came for Shea Horvath on Thursday. Like any high school senior, she had been anticipating Graduation Day with great excitement. But, at Newport Harbor, Horvath isn’t like any other high school senior.

Horvath, who competed for the Sailors in softball and field hockey, is a fourth generation Newport Harbor graduate. Unheard of.

Newport Harbor Principal Sean Boulton, along with many others, likes to call Horvath, “Fourth Gen,” as her nickname.

Her great-grandmother, Susie Gillis, was in Newport Harbor’s first graduating class, in 1932. Newport Harbor opened in 1930, when Susie was a sophomore.

Horvath’s grandfather, Archie Horvath, played football and basketball at Newport Harbor, where he graduated in 1952.

Tony Horvath, Shea’s father, played football, baseball and competed in track and field for the Sailors. He earned his high school diploma at Newport Harbor in 1972.

“There is [a sense of pride],” Shea said, Thursday, of being a fourth generation Sailor. “I am really proud of it, especially since I am the only one. I’m excited for graduation in general. It’s really scary to think I’m moving on really fast. I’m excited to leave, but I’m also not because I’ve been here my whole life.”

Shea’s parents, including mom Terri Shea (Newport Harbor Class of 1979), were also proud of their daughter, who graduated with a 4.0 grade-point average.

Shea Horvath said she learned so much about life at Newport Harbor, and through sports she learned to never give a half-hearted effort. That would explain her ability to perform well in sports and achieve high marks in academics.

“I have to put my all into everything,” said Shea Horvath, who was an outfielder for Newport Harbor and earned second-team All-Sunset League and Daily Pilot Dream Team honors as a junior. “I just can’t go to sleep until everything is done.”

Sometimes her studies led her into the next day, falling into bed at 2 a.m. She still found the energy to play softball and field hockey.

Her passion for sports led her to select her desired profession. She wants to become an athletic trainer and she is bound for San Diego State, where she will study sports medicine.

“I thought that it would be super cool to be on the sideline watching,” she said. “I just love sports medicine. I want to learn about the body and how I can fix it. But I could not be a doctor because I can’t stand needles or any of that type of stuff, so this is easier for me.”

She leaves for college on Aug. 21 to move in a dorm.

These days, it’s difficult for high school students to gain acceptance to college. Shea Horvath said she applied to seven colleges — Arizona State, Cal State Monterey Bay, Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, Oregon, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and San Diego State — and was accepted to all but one (Cal Poly SLO).

She wanted to be a Mustang, but Cal Poly SLO wanted a 4.25 GPA, Tony Horvath said.

But Shea Horvath remains excited to be an Aztec. All of her father’s friends said good things about the college, and her boyfriend, Jacob Lee, who also graduated from Newport Harbor, attends SDSU.

She said she might play club sports at San Diego State. Her highly competitive days are behind her, as she played in the tough Sunset League for softball.

Her greatest memory came a couple years ago when Newport Harbor defeated Fountain Valley, 6-5, to break the program’s 52-game losing streak in the Sunset League that dated back to 2007.

She said everyone was freaking out after the win.

Her dad was just as excited this past season when she hit an inside-the-park home run off rival Corona del Mar and longtime competitor Sydney McKeown in the Costa Mesa High tournament at TeWinkle Park.

The memories of Shea growing up flashed back on Thursday. Tony Horvath remembered when she used to hit the ball off the tee in the front yard just before she turned 2.

Terri Shea remembers her daughter while in the halls of Newport Heights Elementary, where Terri is a teacher’s aide. Terri also attended the school, as did Tony.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Tony Horvath said of his daughter graduating from Newport Harbor. “I was looking at her yearbook and I thought, ‘She’s all grown up.’ It was like yesterday we were walking to Ensign for her junior high graduation. It’s absolutely crazy.”

Terri Shea also has a lot of Newport Harbor and Newport Beach pride that has been passed on to her daughter. Terri’s mother, Majorie Adams Shea, worked at Newport Harbor for 23 years and was the director of physical education.

Terri Shea enjoys photography as a hobby and volunteered as the photographer for her daughter’s teams throughout high school. She made photo books for the teams to help cherish the memories.

“It’s very surreal,” Terri Shea said of her daughter graduating. “Each time I go to an event all these memories start flooding back. When I walk through the old halls [at Newport Heights] you remember all sorts of things. I remember when …”

Shea Horvath’s parents will also have great memories of their daughter’s graduation when she became the fourth generation to graduate as a Sailor.

Her family came to see, as did Lee and her teammates, Skialer Carter, Kendall Machado, Diana Surber, Sammy del Toro and Haley Martinez. They were all happy to see Fourth Gen graduate.

Tony Horvath has many photos and memorabilia of Newport Harbor and Newport Beach from years long ago. Some of the pieces and photos have been put in Heritage Hall at Newport Harbor.

Shea Horvath and her father are also featured in an upcoming documentary about the school’s history.

“I want to see it so bad, especially since I am in it,” Shea Horvath said of the documentary. “There’s definitely a lot of history at Newport Harbor. The history is just a huge part of the whole school … It factors into the whole learning experience.”