NOTES AND QUOTES for a Friday in the Napa Valley:

Napa High’s Tatum Souza, a three-sport athlete, has been selected as one of 10 female California state finalists for the Wendy’s High School Heisman program.

The Wendy’s High School Heisman program, awarded in conjunction with the collegiate Heisman, celebrates the achievements of the nation’s top high school seniors both in and out of the classroom.

Just as the collegiate Heisman is known for being the top award in college football, the WHSH award is known for being the most prestigious award at the high school level. The award encourages future leadership by recognizing well-balanced lifestyles at an early age.

“I am really humbled and honored to have received such a prestigious award,” said Souza. “I would like to thank my teachers and coaches for helping me achieve this recognition. This honor was made possible because of them.”

Over 550 California seniors were chosen as representatives.

The list has since been narrowed to 20 athletes per state. Souza is one of the 20, with 10 females and 10 males selected.

Next month, the state’s nominees will be narrowed to 12 national winners.

Academically, Souza has a 4.3 GPA and is a four-year member of the National Society of High School Scholars.

Athletically, Souza was the Napa County Player of the Year in volleyball and was the Napa Valley Register Female Athlete of the Year for the 2008-09 school year. She was Second Team All-County for basketball.

As a member of the Napa Track Club, she is the record holder in the young women’s division for the heptathlon in the USA Track and Field Pacific Association.

She broke the school record in the long jump (18-4) and advanced to the CIF State Track and Field Championships for Napa High last year.

Souza also performs community service, volunteering at The Table and the Kaiser Permanente Napa Valley Marathon while also working as a volunteer youth volleyball and basketball coach.

Each fall, the WHSH recognizes the nation’s most esteemed high school senior men and women for excellence in academics, athletics and community/school leadership.

Eligibility for application is limited exclusively to men and women entering their senior year of high school who have at least a “B” grade average and participate in at least one of the 27 sports officially sanctioned by the National Federation of State High Schools.

John Boyett, third for the University of Oregon in tackles, is listed as the starter at free safety on the team’s depth chart going into Saturday’s nationally televised Pacific-10 Conference game against USC.

It’s a 5:12 p.m. kickoff at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore., with ABC carrying the game.

Boyett, a redshirt freshman who was honored as an All-American and the State Player of the Year by maxpreps.com at Napa High, has started the last six games for Oregon (6-1 overall, 4-0 Pac-10).

He has 43 total tackles with two interceptions.

Oregon comes into the game on a six-game winning streak and is ranked No. 10 by The Associated Press and 12th by USA Today. USC (6-1 overall, 3-1 Pac-10) is fourth in the AP and USA Today polls.

St. Helena High volleyball coach Benny Rabanal will be the guest of the “KVON SportsVine” Saturday.

The hour-long show, hosted by Terry Simpkins, Charles Kennedy and Mark McLeod, airs from 9 to 10 a.m. on KVON-1440 AM.

Max Alvarez of Napa was credited with an assist for the Sacramento State men’s soccer team in a 1-0 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation victory over Seattle University last week in Tukwila, Wash.

Alvarez, a freshman, played 67 minutes in the match and took four shots.

Safeway and the St. Helena High girls basketball team will partner on a environmentally sensitive car wash fundraiser Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

It will take place at the Safeway parking lot in St. Helena.

It’s a breast cancer awareness fundraiser.

Devin Whitmill of Napa has started 15 of the 17 games as a defender so far for the Whitworth University (Spokane, Wash.) women’s soccer team, which has one of the top-ranked defenses for NCAA Div. III teams in the country.

Whitworth (14-3 overall, 11-2 Northwest Conference) has allowed only 11 goals.

The Pirates recently beat the University of Puget Sound, 1-0.

The San Francisco Giants begin their Cactus League schedule March 3 with a road game against Seattle.

It’s followed by their first home contest on March 4 against Milwaukee at Scottsdale Stadium.

The Giants are slated to play 31 games next spring, including two against Cincinnati, a new addition to the Cactus League.

The Giants will break camp in Arizona on March 31.

For ticket information, call the Giants ticket office at (415) 972-2209 or visit www.sfgiants.com.

E-mail Executive Sports Editor Marty James at mjames@napanews.com or call 256-2223.