The top three academic students for Manteca High’s Class of 2024 had 4.50 GPAs.

Of that, Christian Avila and Christina Nguyen tied for the top spot with Elise Miller being slightly behind the two by just a few decimal points.

Avila and Nguyen will serve as co-valedictorians while Miller will hold the honor of salutatorian at Thursday night’s graduation ceremonies at Spanos Center on the campus of the University of the Pacific.

The change of venue was necessary given the current modernization efforts taking place at Guss Schmiedt Field.

It’s bittersweet for the graduating class. But Avila, Nguyen, and Miller are still looking forward to their special day.

Avila, who is the son of Victor and Enriqueta Avila, will be moving from here to UCLA. He’s looking to study Bio Chemistry in the fall with the possibility of entering into the medical field.

Avila was involved in the Hispanic Youth Leadership Council as well as other clubs on campus. He and Nguyen were both thrilled with the return of Multicultural Day at MHS.

Nguyen is bound for UC Berkeley, where she’ll major in Chemical Biology – she has future plans of going into biotech research.

Christina Nguyen is the daughter of Taun and Tinh Nguyen. She was a four-year tennis player for the Buffaloes not to mention being team captain this past year.

Elise Miller is the daughter of James and Michelle Miller. Like Avila, she’ll be attending UCLA in the fall.

Miller, who is looking to study Environmental Science – she’s leaning towards doing research in sustainability – was active member of National Honor Society, California Scholarship Federation, and the Thespian Club.

She said that her recent Grad Night trip to Disneyland was among her highlights of high school.