Attending Thacher School has been an uplifting experience for senior Chris Thomas, a three-sport star in football, lacrosse and basketball.

He grew up in Los Angeles and attended Audubon Middle School. He lives near Crenshaw High, but said Palisades or Westchester were schools he was considering.

He considered several boarding schools on the East Coast, but an opportunity to attend Thacher was too good to pass up.

"When I tell people I go to a boarding school, the reaction from others is, what did I do wrong. I sometimes tell them it's more like a preparatory school," said Thomas.

Thomas was encouraged to apply for a boarding school in eighth grade through the Better Chance program and he was named most likely to succeed in middle school.

He had to deal with a lot more distractions living in the inner city, but he was serious about school and listened and learned from teachers and counselors.

Thomas, an only child, lived with his mother, Dedra Waggener, plus grandmother Rosemary Waggener, two aunts, Debbie and Dana Waggener and Debbie's 8-year-old son, Matthew. Dedra Waggener went to Palisades High.

"His mom is very supportive and attends nearly every game," said Thacher football coach Jeff Hooper.

"It was a quantum leap from middle school to my freshman year at Thacher. I struggled at first, but I got my grades to a B average," said Thomas.

"Im happy the way things turned out. It's a different world in Ojai.

"We have other kids from the same socioeconomic background."

Thomas said he has been inspired by a number of coaches and teachers.

He doesn't know if his athletic skills will allow him to play college football, basketball or lacrosse, because it all depends on what school accepts him.

Business and marketing are college interests and he hasn't ruled out being a coach.

UCLA and Loyola Marymount are two of the schools he's considering.

Thomas figures to make a lot of hits this season and be in on a number of tackles for Thacher's eight-man football team.

Thomas was the starting middle linebacker on last season's Condor League championship team and he was instrumental helping the Toads reach the semifinals in the playoffs.

Thomas had 89 solo tackles and 63 assists in 10 games. He recorded a sack and made eight tackles for a loss. He had an interception, forced seven fumbles and recovered two fumbles. His 152 total tackles were more than double the total for the team's second leading tackler, who had 71. Thomas made the All-CIF first team.

On offense, Thomas is a running back.

Besides football, Thomas is a standout on the basketball court.

Hooper said the 5-foot-10, 180-pound Thomas has the talent to play football or basketball in college.

Hooper recalled the Faith Baptist game last season, where Thomas made numerous tackles and leading the defensive charge.

"He had a great game for us," said Hooper.

Thomas is a third-year varsity player. His first football season was playing defensive end for the Toads. He switched to linebacker three games into sophomore year.

Thomas is expected to be one of the team leaders this season.

"We had a good senior class," he said of a year ago.

Thomas said he didn't have a very good experience his freshman season when he took up lacrosse.

"It started horribly and I was the worst player," he said. "My sophomore year, I switched from midfielder to defense. I was voted team captain last season."

Like football, Thacher has enjoyed success in lacrosse with some talented teams.

Thee classroom is where Thomas has had to work to become an honor-roll student.

English has been his favorite class since middle school. This year, economics and psychology are subjects he's enthusiatic about studying.

This past summer, Thomas and several Thacher classmates traveled to Europe. The students visited Barcelona, Spain, along with seeing the sights of Paris and Italy during a 17-day excursion.