Orange Lutheran High School Alumni

08/26/2026

Tickets are on sale now for Taste of OLu!

If you're 21 or over, you're invited to join us in the Borland Student Union on September 26 for a casual evening of food and drink samples from local vendors, plus a chance to catch up with friends from the OLu community.

If you graduated in 1996, 2001, or 2006, your class is reuniting at the event and will have a special reserved section on the field!

Online presale closes on September 16, and prices go up at the door. Check out the vendor list and buy tickets now at lhsoc.org/taste!

08/24/2026

If your senior yearbook cover is featured here, your class is celebrating a milestone at Taste of OLu this year! Classes of 1996, 2001, and 2006 will have reserved reunion areas at Taste of OLu, along with samples of food, wine, and beer from local vendors; non-alcoholic options from The Tap Truck and Sprecher Brewing; and a full meal from Taco Mesa. Alumni tickets are $40 and extend to a guest, even if they didn't graduate from Orange Lutheran.

Taste of OLu is Saturday, September 26 from 5-8 pm at Orange Lutheran's campus. Tickets are on sale now at lhsoc.org/taste!

08/12/2026

Reunion registration for Taste of OLu is now open! If you’re in the classes of 1996, 2001, or 2006, head to lhsoc.org/taste for more information and to buy tickets at the alumni rate of $40/person. We look forward to seeing you back on campus September 26!

07/24/2026

If you live in Yorba Linda, you may have spotted Julia (Bonilla) Basso ’90 on the cover of the July issue of West Yorba Linda Neighbors magazine!

A Yorba Linda native, Julia served as senior class president at Orange Lutheran before earning degrees in opera from Cal State Long Beach and Brooklyn College. A 2001 trip to Italy’s Cinque Terre led her to Paolo, her future husband, and eventually to La Spezia, where they now live with their two sons.

Today, Julia and Paolo own and operate Taverna del Capitano in Vernazza. Julia also co-founded the Vernazza Opera Festival and continues to sing and write music with her jazz band, Jazz Mare, which performs throughout Cinque Terre and can be found on Spotify.

From Orange Lutheran to the Italian Riviera, Julia’s story continues with beauty and music at its center. Head to Yorba Linda Neighbors Magazines to read the full article!

07/21/2026

If you graduated in 1996, 2001, or 2006, your class is reuniting at Taste of OLu this year! Alumni and one guest (ages 21+) can get their tickets at a special rate of $40 per person. Tickets go on sale soon, so update your contact info at lhsoc.org/updateinfo to make sure you don't miss anything!

07/13/2026

We couldn't be more excited for Derek Curiel '24, who was selected No. 5 overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first round of the MLB Draft over the weekend!

Since graduating from Orange Lutheran, Derek has been playing for the LSU Tigers, where he was the 2025 National Freshman of the Year and helped lead his team to a College World Series championship.

Derek joins the growing club of OLu's first-round draft picks, including Mikey Romero '22 (No. 24, Boston Red Sox), Cole Winn '18 (No. 15, Texas Rangers), Garrett Mitchell '17 (No. 20, Milwaukee Brewers), and Gerrit Cole '08 (No. 1, Pittsburgh Pirates).

Read more: https://www.mlb.com/news/derek-curiel-drafted-no-5-by-pirates-in-2026-mlb-draft

07/08/2026

Our man Sam, class of 2026!

Not many high school athletes excel at football and volleyball. Especially not an athlete who is 6-foot-4 and 320 pounds. Orange Lutheran’s Sam Utu was that athlete.

Utu was an All-CIF Southern Section and All-Orange County first-team offensive tackle for the Lancers in football. In the CIF-SS playoffs, Orange Lutheran beat top-seeded St. John Bosco, 20-19, in the first round a few weeks after losing to Bosco 48-0.

He also was the CIF-SS Division 2 player of the year in volleyball. Utu led the Lancers to the CIF-SS Division 2 championship. Orange Lutheran later advanced to the CIF Southern California Regional Division II final.

Read more here: https://www.ocregister.com/2026/06/19/orange-lutherans-sam-utu-is-the-orange-county-boys-athlete-of-the-year/

🖊️ and 📷: Steve Fryer, Orange County Register/SCNG

06/16/2026

We're rounding the bases with three Lancer alumni updates from the diamond!

• Mandy Urfer ’07 was inducted into the Orange County Softball Hall of Fame last week, joining fellow Lancers Laura (Miklos) Crawford ’01 and Coach Steve Miklos. At OLu, Mandy was a four-year All-League selection, two-time team captain, and volleyball letterwinner before going on to play softball at Arizona State University.

• Trent Rush ’10 has been promoted to the No. 2 TV play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Angels. In addition to televised Angels games, you can catch Trent reporting on CBS, Fox Sports, Angels AM830, and Fox 11!

• Josiah Hartshorn '25 (pictured) was named the Midwest League Player of the Week with the South Bend Cubs, less than a year after being selected in the 6th round of the MLB Draft by the Chicago Cubs.

Got an update you'd like to share? Message us, and you may be featured!

06/04/2026

What a week! The Class of 2026 walked across the stage at the UCI Bren Center on Sunday, and we got to celebrate with them again at the alumni lunch on Tuesday.

Of our 359 graduating seniors, 88% were accepted to a four-year university and nearly 96% will be in college this fall across 103 schools in 31 states and internationally. Three Lancers are heading into military service: One to the U.S. Naval Academy, one to the U.S. Air Force Academy, and one enlisting directly into the Navy. We're so grateful for this class and excited to see how God uses them in the many places they'll go!

Welcome to the OLu Alumni family, Class of 2026!

06/02/2026

Congratulations to Allison Lentz '09, who was a Commencement speaker at Chapman University last week! In addition to serving as Senior Associate Director of Donor Experience at the CHOC Foundation, she is a Chapman grad who is active on Chapman's Board of Governors and Orange Lutheran's Executive Strategy Council. "You don't have to be the smartest person in every room, but you should strive to be the most reliable and the kindest," she told graduates of the School of Communication. Well done, Ally!