Dr. Richard Ryu gets a lot of handshakes and thank yous when he walks into a room filled with members of the local athletic community.
It seemed as if half of the people in the Ranchero Room for Monday’s Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Luncheon were former patients of his.
The venerable local orthopedic surgeon worked his magic on Santa Barbara High golf coach Ryan Throop’s knee as well as both of his brothers’ shoulders. Craig Moropolous thanked his good friend for all the care given to his athletes over the past two decades, calling him “one of his favorite people in the world,” and Dons football coach Will Gonzales was also full of thanks for the good doctor.
Ironically, he’s the last guy an athlete wants to go see.
At least for an appointment.
Regardless, there were some healthy achievements to bring to light this week, and soon-to-be SBART president Paul Gamberdella was there in place of current president Rick Wilson to emcee the affair.
You’d think Moropolous would need help from a different kind of doctor after his SBCC Vaqueros travelled to face the potent Pirates of Ventura College on Saturday and took a 49-0 drubbing.
But Moropoulos has coached long enough to know that there are always things to take away from a loss.
“You can either run and hide from it, look at it, or talk about it and move on from it. That’s what I choose to do,” he said.
Down 49-0 at halftime, Moropolous challenged his team to come out of the locker room and step up in the second half. The fact that Ventura did not score any more points wasn’t because they weren’t trying — the Pirates even faked a punt with four minutes left in the game.
“They kept their starters in there almost the entire second half, and we got after them… We’re 0-3, but I’m confident about our team, because now we go into conference play, and we’re 0-0 in conference,” he said.
Two Vaquero receivers were recognized — Jed Ellsbury and Oscar Loza.
The Vaqs will start anew on Saturday against Antelope Valley, with the start time at La Playa Stadium set for 6 p.m.
Dos Pueblos’ football team was involved in a much closer contest, and came out on top thanks to Athlete of the Week Dane Limosnero. The senior returned a kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown and another 71 yards to set up a field goal, which proved the difference in a 19-17 win against a much bigger Cabrillo team.
This week’s award was not an easy one to get considering the performances on the Honorable Mention list. Laguna Blanca’s Kevin Lunn ran the fastest time of anyone else in a field of over 500 Saturday at the Ojai Invitational cross country meet. Carpinteria quarterback RJ Rosborough ran for two touchdowns and passed for two more in the Warriors’ 33-6 crushing of Nipomo, and Laguna Blanca’s Luther Tarver-Burks also scored four in the Owls’ win over Valley Christian. Chase Racich rounded out the group after scoring 23 goals in five games for the Dos Pueblos water polo team at the Riverside Poly Tournament.
If DP’s Scholar Athlete of the Year, Alejandro Velos, is any indication, the Chargers have a lot of intelligence to use against bigger teams on the opposite side of the ball.
The team-captain carries a 4.53 GPA with a course schedule that includes AP Calculus, Advanced Engineering, AP Literature, AP Government and Leadership. He’s also a part of the school’s accomplished Robotics program.
He’s also a heck of a two-way lineman, according to coach Jeff Uyesaka.
Charger fullback and linebacker Aaron Parsons was also recognized for his key role on the squad.
Dos Pueblos will play its first ever true-home game on Friday, hosting Lompoc.
Some special teams errors lifted the Braves over Dare Holdren’s Royals in a game that saw a 7-0 San Marcos lead turn into a 24-7 loss.
Holdren noted that “they grow ’em big” up in Lompoc, and brought along two examples of how San Marcos often doesn’t do so.
“One of the good things about San Marcos is that a lot of the times we get these little squirrelly guys in there as freshmen, and I swear you can’t get ’em to tie their shoe without talking back to you. I’m not saying these guys were like that, but they were like that,” he said.
Holdren was referring to cornerbacks Sammy Garcia and Parker Carroll.
“If you would have told me four years ago that they’d be the starting corners on the varsity team, I probably would not have taken you seriously.”
The ribbing ended there, because the coach said the two have been the main reason why San Marcos has only given up about 150 yards passing over two games.
“They really put in the work, and I’m just so proud of them,” he said.
Next up for the Royals is a trip to Hueneme on Friday.
Santa Barbara High went down to play in the bright lights of Beverly Hills, and were plagued by turnovers in a 37-28 loss to the Normans.
“We have to be the most confident 0-2 team I’ve ever seen,” said coach Gonzales. “We know we’re a good team and we know we’re better than our record.”
With start tight end Bryson Lloyd covered up for much of the game, diminutive speedster RJ Bisquera stepped up and hauled in 10 catches for 104 yards. Also present was Florida transplant Kyle Leonard, a lightning-quick running back who is the team’s leading rusher thus far.
The Dons travel to face Righetti on Friday.
“Thank goodness his parents got re-located for their jobs,” said Gonzales.
Besides Rosborough, Carpinteria School District Superintendent Paul Guerrero, assistant coach Steve Murrillo and lineman Cameron Gonzales were at Harry’s to represent the victorious Warriors. Gonzales comes from a long line of Carpinteria football players and is a two-way lineman. Rosborough was initially just a quarterback, but begged his way onto the defensive side as well and is a star on both ends.
Carpinteria hosts Grace Brethren on Friday.
On the 8-man front, Laguna Blanca coach Ray Robitaille was there to talk about the Owls’ shutout of Valley Christian and the team’s upcoming contest against Faith Baptist, which he dubbed “The St. Bonnie of the 8-man scene” in reference to Channel League juggernaut St. Bonaventure.
Tarver-Burks has stepped in as the team’s top offensive threat after standout Mark Romanov was diagnosed with his fourth concussion and had to hang up his helmet. Also there for the Owls was Alex “Hammer” Harmer, who pounded in a touchdown of his own Saturday.
Two elite high school girls tennis teams sit across town from each other this year in Dos Pueblos and Santa Barbara.
Steve Geremia’s 3-0 Dons have, as always, started off the season with a brutally tough schedule which includes CIF finalists and champions from a variety of divisions. So far, they’re unscathed.
Danielle Broida, Zoe Miller, April Ludwick and Hannah Grokenberger joined their coach. The Dons will face CIF-favorite Beverly Hills this week in a marquee matchup.
As good as Geremia’s Dons are, he said that DP is “definitely the favorite to win the Channel League.”
Liz Frech’s team is 4-1 on the year and has talent young and old. Freshman Lauren Stratman is fresh off of a win in the “No Quit” tournament in Las Vegas, and she was joined at the luncheon by elders Erica Cano and Melissa Dahl, who are both key players for the Chargers this season.
And let’s not forget about the Royals. Top singles player Julian Mannix as well as the doubles duo of Shelby Zylstra-Amy Kinsella accompanied coach Kara Warkentin, who said she is very confident in her 2-0 team moving forward.
Throop was the only golf coach there, and his Dons are off to their best start in five years at 5-1. Sophomore Hayley True picked up the game last year and has already become a top player, while Lexi Ortega is the team’s big-hitter and has a swing that reminds Throop of PGA pro JB Holmes.
SBCC sports information specialist Dave Loveton got up to speak about a pair of Vaquero women’s teams. The golf team is in first place in the Western State Conference at 19-1, and features two pairs of sisters in DP graduates Asaka and Sumika Sim as well as twins Sarah and Claire Borneman. The volleyball team hung tough with the state’s third-ranked team, Golden West, over the weekend but ultimately went 0-2 in the SBCC Quad Tournament.
Before the cast of prep and college coaches and representatives came up, the luncheon began with special guest Dave Goss, one of the coaches for Santa Barbara United, a youth girls soccer team which went all the way to Norway this summer and brought back the Norway Cup.
Fourteen girls from Santa Ynez, Goleta and Santa Barbara comprised the team, which outscored the opposition 22-0 over seven games and won the tournament (the largest youth soccer tournament in the world) and also had some wonderful cultural experiences, staying with host families in Lillehamer as well as playing games against Palestine, Zimbabwe and Kenya. Michelle Goss, the tournament MVP, was with her dad at Harry’s
NOTE: Friday’s football game between Bishop Diego and Santa Paula will be broadcast live on 1490 AM thanks to “Big Friday Football.”
