Best high school mascot in California: Top 10 candidates

From Ugly Eagles to Biohazards to Haybalers, meet the best high school mascots in California

Just like bidding wars on beachfront property in San Diego, the competition for best high school mascot in California is stiff.

The Golden State has about 2,000 high schools, and while a lot of those mascots are Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my, there are also some unique ones.

SBLive Sports' love for unique mascots with interesting back stories has been well documented.

We've crowned Hodags and Imps the past couple of years in national high school mascot contests, and now we're taking a spin through every state.

Over the next couple of months we'll go from Alabama through Wyoming featuring each state's best high school mascots, and then give readers a chance to vote for their favorite. Our California poll posted Oct. 7 on highschool.si.com and will stay open through Oct. 14:

Vote: Which is the best high school mascot in California?

Vote: Which is the best high school mascot in Georgia?

Vote: Which is the best high school mascot in Florida?

Here are the top 10 high school mascots in California:

Clayton Valley Charter Ugly Eagles

According to the Sacramento Bee, back in the 1970s a gruff football coach ordered his players to cut their hair and trim their sideburns. The players at then-Clayton Valley High School rebelled, so the coach deemed his shaggy lot to no longer be the Eagles but instead the “Ugly Eagles,” and the mascot stuck. The school became Clayton Valley Charter in 2012.

Coalinga Horned Toads

Coalinga’s Horned Toad history goes back to 1935, when the first Horned Toad Derby was run in town. The event pits captured wild horned toads against one another in a race on a makeshift track, while Coalinga High School athletes compete on a more state-of-the-art track.

Compton Tarbabes

In 1927, a community college was added to Compton High School’s campus, and the mascot changed from the Lions to the Tartars (a Mongolian warrior). The college was known for being “Adult” Tartars while the high school was considered “Baby” Tartars. The Baby Tartars have had many nicknames over the years: Little Tartars, Tartar babies, Babes and now the Tarbabes.

Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy Tologs

You mean you don’t know what a Tolog is? Obviously it’s an acronym devised by the Flintridge Sacred Heart Class of 1948 meaning “To Our Lady of Good Success.”

Hollister Haybalers

More commonly referred to as the ‘Balers, their pitchfork-wielding mascot looks straight out of a bucolic horror movie. Hollister is an agricultural area neighboring Gilroy (the garlic capital of the world), and the pair’s annual rivalry football game against each other is called the Prune Bowl.

John Marshall Barristers

The L.A. school, which opened in 1931, was named after John Marshall, who served as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1801 to 1835. In honor of Marshall’s long, storied law career, the school’s students called themselves the Barristers, and Johnny Barrister is their studious-looking mascot.

Life Academy Biohazards

Beware Life Academy athletes’ knowledge of microorganisms when facing this Oakland school that’s focused on health and bioscience.

Lincoln Fighting Zebras

No, there aren't zebras roaming around the Sacramento suburb of Lincoln. The name came 100 years ago courtesy of the school's student paper, which pointed out the zebra-like appearance of the basketball players in their striped warm-up suits.

Millennium Falcons

The first hope upon learning about the Millennium Falcons was that George Lucas went there. The next hope (a new hope, you could say) was that the school predated 1977 blockbuster “Star Wars.” Alas, Millennium started in 2004 — after “Attack of the Clones” and before “Revenge of the Sith” — but huge points go to the founders for picking a perfectly paired mascot with the school name.

Tustin Tillers

Tustin High School, alma mater of former NFL running back DeShaun Foster, has been known as the Tillers since the school opened in the early 1920s. The name is a reference to the farmers who once made up much of Tustin’s population. Today, the median home price in Tustin is just over $1 million.

(Feature photo by Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK)

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-- Mike Swanson | swanson@scorebooklive.com | @sblivesports