Three Coronado students received service academy nominations from Rep. Scott Peters, D-California, and were honored at a reception on Feb. 20.
The reception recognized 39 students from the 50th congressional district who applied for a nomination from Peters’ office in the fall of 2024 in order to attend either the U.S. Military Academy West Point, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, U.S. Naval Academy, or the U.S. Air Force Academy.
A congressional nomination is one step in the application process to attend a service academy.
The three high schoolers from Coronado – Alivia Schmidgal, Connor Gray and Shane Borunda – were selected to receive a nomination after a thorough interview process with the Service Academy Nominations board, convened by Peters’ office.
Schmidgal, who was nominated for the U.S. Naval Academy, is a senior at Coronado High School. She is on the high school cheer team for both the football and basketball seasons, and is a volunteer coach for Coronado Pop Warner cheer.
Schmidgal is also a member of the National Honors Society, Stop the Sewage Club and the Red Cross Club. She said her goal is to major in mechanical engineering at the Naval Academy.
Gray is also a senior at Coronado High School who was nominated for the U.S. Naval Academy. He is currently the commanding officer for the high school’s Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps unit.
Gray spent this past summer as one of 28 students selected for an intensive eight-week U.S. Navy Summer Flight Academy aviation program at Delaware University where, upon completion, he received his private pilot’s license. He said his end goal in the Navy is to become a fighter pilot.
Borunda, a senior at Francis Parker School who lives in Coronado, was nominated by Peters for the U.S. Air Force Academy. Borunda has lived in Coronado since he was 5 years old, and growing up, participated in Camp Coronado and the Junior Lifeguard program. Borunda also played water polo for the Coronado Aquatics Club, coached by Jesse Smith, for many years.
Borunda said his goal is to become a pilot in the Air Force, a pararescue specialist, or joint terminal attack controller. He is planning on studying military strategic studies at the Air Force Academy.Â
