Stanford-bound Austin Hooper of De La Salle was named to the first-team defense on the Cal-Hi Sports All-State team released Tuesday.

The 6-foot-5, 245-pound senior, who can play both in the defensive line or tight end, had 17 Division I offers -- including Oregon and Cal -- before committing to The Farm two weeks ago. His speed on defense coming from the outside for a player his size is what made him so effective.

Despite missing part of the season due to injury, and only playing in 10 games and one quarter of the game in which he was hurt, Hooper still had the second-most tackles for loss. Hooper was especially dominating in De La Salle's win over unbeaten Folsom in the CIF Northern California Open Division final with three sacks, a batted pass and two long receptions that set up offensive scores.

The third-team offense included two Stanford recruits, wide receiver Francis Owusu (6-3, 190) of Oaks Christian and offensive lineman Thomas Oser (6-5, 285) of Harvard-Westlake.

On the Small Schools all-state team, Sacred Heart Prep senior defensive back Daniel Thaure (5-10, 185) was named to the first team while teammate Mike Covell, a 6-0, 185-pound linebacker, was named to the second team on defense.

On the all-state teams for underclassmen, Palo Alto quarterback Keller Chryst was named to the second team for juniors while Menlo School quarterback Jack Heneghan received the same honor on the third team.

Fencing
Brandeis University sophomore Noah Berman from Palo Alto High has been selected as University Athletic Association Male Fencer of the Week.

Berman, a foil fencer, went 8-2 at the Northeast Conference. The Judges rolled to three of their wins, defeating Tufts, 21-6; Vassar, 23-4; and Dartmouth, 19-8. In the toughest match of the competition, they overcame a 13-10 deficit to defeat Boston College, 14-13. Brandeis also suffered a 20-7 loss to host Brown University.

In the win over BC, with the Judges trailing, 13-10, Berman won the final foil bout of the match by a 5-3 score, allowing the sabre squad to finish off the rally against the Eagles with three more wins.

Overall this season, Brandeis is 8-6, 7-3 in the NFC. With their portion of the schedule complete, they are in fourth place with one more meet to go. Berman leads the foil squad with a 34-10 record this season.

Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.