Santa Barbara's Sports News and Information
PHOTO GALLERY INTRO: The 45th annual Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Hall of Fame Banquet was hosted at the DoubleTree Resort on Monday, as a sold-out crowd gathered to celebrate the evening's honorees.Among them were 11 Hall of Fame inductees, four special award winners, three scholarship recipients, two coaches of the year, and 52 Athletes of the Year.The photo gallery below includes some of the night's winners.For video highlights from last night's event, CLICK … [Read more...]
The story of hard work paying off is the story of senior Kei Kita’s golf career at UCSB.A walk-on four years ago, Kita played in just one tournament for the Gauchos as a freshman, coach Steve Lass told the crowd at Monday’s Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table press luncheon at Harry’s Plaza Cafe. He played in two events during his sophomore season and this year he competed all 10 events.“By the second half of the season, he was our go-to guy. His nickname now is ‘Chief,’” … [Read more...]
Westmont track and field coach Russell Smelley was in a perfect spot to witness a breakthrough for one his runners at last Saturday’s GSAC Championships.Speaking at Monday’s Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table press luncheon, Smelley said he was about 200 meters from the finish of the women’s 800 final when Theresa Nealon was coming up on the shoulder of the second-place runner. Based on past performances, he figured she’d play it safe and try to out-kick her on the … [Read more...]
Longtime UCSB swimming coach Gregg Wilson put it best when describing Chris Peterson, the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table’s Scholar Athlete of the Year from the university.Said Wilson at Monday’s SBART press luncheon: “Chris is the standard our program has set, not just in the pool but in the classroom. He’s a great example of what you can do if you really focus.”It’s easy to see why Peterson is considered the model of a student athlete at UCSB. He’s had a highly … [Read more...]
In his long career in track and field, Len Miller has coached such top distance runners as U.S. Olympian Steve Scott and 1970s prep sensation Eric Hulst.At Dos Pueblos, Miller is excited about coaching sophomore standout Addi Zerrenner, who last weekend set meet records in the 1600 and 3200 at the Santa Barbara County Track and Field Championships.One of the qualities that makes Zerrenner special, Miller noted, is her mental toughness.“In my mind, I put her in the same class … [Read more...]
His players may be too young to know it, but Santa Barbara High boys tennis coach Greg Tebbe says the Dons’ court rivalry with Corona del Mar is like the L.A. Lakers against the Boston Celtics in the NBA.“Corona del Mar and Santa Barbara are two of the most successful high school programs in southern California in the last 30 years, I’d say,” Tebbe said at Monday’s Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table press luncheon at Harry’s Plaza Cafe.The Dons, ranked fifth in CIF Division … [Read more...]
Road trips can provide a good learning experience for teams.The San Marcos baseball team gained some valuable lessons while in Tucson, Ariz., playing in the Chris Moon Memorial Cherry Field Classic last week.The Royals learned they have some talented players in the lower level programs. Sophomore JV catcher Parker Rosenburg and freshman team pitcher Sean Nakano-West turned in good performances during the week-long tournament, assistant coach Michael Sandford said at Monday’s Santa … [Read more...]
San Marcos boys volleyball coach Roger Kuntz proudly wore a little green and gold on Monday at the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table press luncheon.Green and gold happen to be the school colors of crosstown rival Santa Barbara, but Kuntz was quick to point out they're also the colors of his alma mater, Baylor University, where he played football. He wore his Baylor polo shirt on Monday to express his excitement over the success of the men’s and women’s basketball teams in the NCAA … [Read more...]
The timing was perfect for Monday’s Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table press luncheon.Track and field was one of the featured sports, and Jim Sloan of the Santa Barbara Athletic Association was at Harry's Plaza Cafe to hand out checks to the track programs at the local schools.The SBAA is the longtime local running club that puts on several big races in the community. One of those races is the Santa Barbara Half Marathon, which last year ran in concert with the Santa Barbara … [Read more...]
It’s never too early to experience the feeling of winning a championship.Westmont College coach Kirsten Moore’s unborn baby got to experience that wonderful feeling as the Warriors won their first Golden State Athletic Conference regular season women’s basketball title last week.“We got to cut down the nets for the first time in program history,” a pregnant Moore told the crowd at Monday’s Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table press luncheon at Harry’s Plaza Cafe. “It was … [Read more...]
Monday's Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table press luncheon set the table for an important week as many of the area's high school teams begin CIF play in the coming days.In other words, it's do-or-die time, and coaches spent much of their time at the podium sizing up their postseason chances while also retelling some of the performances that got them there.Santa Barbara High's Emilio Gonzalez and Betsy Hendrix were named Athletes of the Week for big-time performances that sent their … [Read more...]
