Hundreds gathered at Fess Parker’s Doubletree Monday for the 42nd Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Hall of Fame Banquet.
This year’s inductees were Jeff Azian (Outstanding Athlete), Ati Conner (Outstanding Athlete), Ken Duncan (Outstanding Athlete), Jenny Hehnke (Outstanding Athlete), Amelia White-Escalante (Outstanding Athlete), Virgil Elings (Community Leader), Alexander “Stubby” Herman (Special Achievement) and Mike Beresford (Coach).
Special-award winners were Bernard Hicks (Russ Hargreaves Memorial Award), Diane Wootton (Louise Lowry Davis Award), Ethel Byers (R.F. MacFarland Memorial Trophy), Vic Bertalan (Masters Athlete Award) and Ramon Hooper (Special Olympics Mayor’s Trophy).
Dos Pueblos’ Nicole Gee and Carpinteria’s Nathan Saito were honored with the Cox Business Athletic Scholarships, while Dos Pueblos’ Wolf Thielmann received the Russ Morrison Memorial Scholarship. San Marcos’ Kelley Chilton received the Gina Ruskauff Memorial Scholarship, and Albert “A.J.” Fling was presented with the SBART Founders Scholarship.
This year’s coaches of the year were John Gannon of Santa Barbara High girls volleyball and Dave Wolf of Westmont men’s and women’s soccer.
Also, SBART President Rick Wilson graciously invited six representatives from the Santa Barbara City Fire Department to be honored as “Athletes of the Week,” which was followed by a standing ovation.
Below is a list of the 2009 SBART Athletes of the Year along with a brief description of their accomplishments.
HIGH SCHOOL
FOOTBALL, JOHN URIBE, SANTA BARBARA HIGH: Posting the single most dominant year any county quarterback has ever had, Uribe passed for 4,164 yards and 44 touchdowns and set county single-game and single-season records for passing attempts, completions, yards, and touchdowns, while also setting a county career record for touchdown passes with 66.
BOYS WATER POLO, IAN GAMBLE, SANTA BARBARA HIGH: The Stanford-bound star led a senior-laden Dons team to the Channel League title and the CIF Semifinals, earning league MVP honors.
BOYS CROSS COUNTRY, KEVIN LUNN, LAGUNA BLANCA: Won the county championship with a three-mile time of 15:24 in strong winds, then recorded a 19-second personal best to finish third in the state in Division V.
BOYS BASKETBALL, ROBERTO NELSON, SANTA BARBARA HIGH: Was named county player of the year for the second time after averaging 21.6 points in his final season as a Don. The McDonald’s All-American will play for Oregon State next season.
BOYS SOCCER, EMMANUEL ANGULO, SANTA BARBARA HIGH: A standout goalie for the high-powered Dons, Angulo earned defensive MVP honors in the powerhouse Channel League after recording a whopping 19 shutouts.
WRESTLING, ZACK BELWAY, SAN MARCOS HIGH: Wrestling at 171 pounds, Belway won a Channel League title and finished ninth in the state, beating out a defending CIF champion during his postseason run. He posted a record of 48-8 and also carried a 4.7 GPA through the season.
BASEBALL, NATHAN SAITO, CARPINTERIA HIGH: Hit .545 with six homers and 27 RBIs through the first 16 games of the season while also stealing eight bases. Also went 6-1 on the mound with a 2.5 ERA, allowing the opposition to hit just .226 against him.
BOYS TENNIS, BILLY GROKENBERGER, SANTA BARBARA HIGH: Called one of the best doubles players in Southern California by coach Steve Geremia, Grokenberger and partner Chase Melton won the doubles bracket at the prestigious Ojai Invitational to lead the Dons to an unprecedented fifth consecutive Griggs Cup title.
BOYS VOLLEYBALL, CHRIS PRATT, SANTA BARBARA HIGH: A dominant middle blocker, Pratt was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Best of the West and Karch Kiraly Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions. Season highlights include a 19-kill, 7-block match in a sweep at Dos Pueblos.
BOYS GOLF, JACK PERRY, SANTA BARBARA HIGH: The junior led the Dons with a stellar scoring average of 72, including a round of 64 against Ventura and scores under 70 in his last three rounds. The Dons went undefeated in a cut-throat Channel League.
BOYS SWIMMING, DREW CASIER, DOS PUEBLOS: The UC Irvine-bound senior posted All-American times in the 100- and 200-freestyle as well as the 100 butterfly as the Chargers won the prestigious Long Beach Wilson Invitational. He also swam on the winning 200- and 400-freestyle relays, which also earned All-American times and automatic CIF qualification. He was the top male swimmer on a DP squad which dominated the Channel League.
BOYS TRACK AND FIELD, PATRICK SMITH, DOS PUEBLOS: Was the county champion in the long jump with a mark of 20 feet, 7.5 inches and also won the triple jump with a mark of 41 feet, 6 inches. He also ran on DP’s 4×100 relay team, which set a school record at last week’s Channel League Championships.
BOYS LACROSSE, FLYNN McGUIRE, CATE: The scoring leader on the year for the Rams, McGuire was also the school’s scoring leader in water polo.
GIRLS TENNIS, LAUREN STRATMAN, DOS PUEBLOS: The freshman-phenom, ranked 9th in the USTA Girls 14’s, won the hotly-contested Channel League individual title and made it three rounds in the CIF Regionals.
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL, CARLY WOPAT, DOS PUEBLOS: The junior, who will play for Stanford along with her twin sister after next year, was the Channel League MVP and an all-CIF first-teamer. Had 14 kills with one error in the CIF semifinals against Laguna Beach and 19 against Santa Barbara to seal up an unbeaten regular season in the Channel League.
GIRLS GOLF, NICOLE BULLEMER, DOS PUEBLOS: Battled a nagging case of strep throat for much of the season and came out as the Channel League MVP, winning the conference title by six strokes with a two-round score of 158.
GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY, DANIELLE GEMBERLING, SAN MARCOS: Took second place in the Channel League with a personal best time of 18:35, and also won the county title by shaving a full 30 seconds off of her previous best.
GIRLS BASKETBALL, BRANDI BLACKWELL, SANTA BARBARA HIGH: Averaged a double-double while leading the Dons to a 19-9 record. She had 18 points and 13 rebounds to complement five assists, five blocks and three steals in a first-round CIF win over Camarillo. She will play for Fresno Pacific next year.
GIRLS WATER POLO, SAMI HILL, DOS PUEBLOS: Considered one of the nation’s top college prospects out of the class of 2010, the junior goalie played through a hand injury and recorded 17 monster saves against might Corona del Mar as the Chargers picked up their second consecutive CIF title with a 3-2 win.
GIRLS SOCCER, ERIN STONE, LAGUNA BLANCA: The junior midfielder was named an All-CIF First-Teamer as the Owls completed the most successful season in school history, which included an unbeaten run in the Condor League and a march all the way to the CIF Semifinals.
SOFTBALL, ANDRIA CASTAGNOLA, DOS PUEBLOS: The senior captain’s season has been filled with highlight performances thus far, including pitching a one-hitter against San Marcos and driving in four runs while scoring another in a win over Rio Mesa.
GIRLS TRACK AND FIELD, SAMANTHA WOPAT, DOS PUEBLOS: Won the county title in the high jump by clearing 5 feet 4 inches and also finished second in the triple jump, long jump and third in the discus throw.
GIRLS SWIMMING, LINDSAY PARRISH, SANTA BARBARA HIGH: Bound for USC next year, the dominant senior won four events at the Channel League Championships. Also won two individual races and led the relay teams to crucial wins in a close victory over Buena.
GIRLS LACROSSE, CASCADE ZAK, CATE: Was a scoring machine for the Rams, putting away six against Los Alamitos, three against Thacher and an incredible 19 during a 5-game span over one day at the Western States Tournament.
COLLEGE
MEN’S WATER POLO, MILOS GOLIC, UCSB: The All-American led UCSB with his 82 goals and was the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation leader for goals per game with an average of 3.04. Additionally, Golic led UCSB with 21 assists and 19 steals.
His 82 goals are the most scored in a single season by a UCSB player since Pete Zamoyski tallied 89 goals in 1990.
MEN’S SOCCER, MARK KNIGHT, SBCC: The all-time goal and scoring leader in SBCC men’s soccer history was named to the Junior College All-American team by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. The native of Woking, England scored 31 goals and a state-high 19 assists for 81 points this year, boosting his two-year totals to 59 goals and 142 points. Will play at Louisville this coming year.
FOOTBALL, NATHAN GOLDIE, SBCC: Was named a first-team all-American Pacific Conference Selection and was third in the conference with 88 tackles (38 solo) and three sacks.
MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY, SCOTT SMITH, UCSB: A junior from Laguna Niguel, Smith was the top finished for the Gauchos at third place in the Big West. Finished 27th at the NCAA West Regionals.
MEN’S BASKETBALL, CHRIS DEVINE, UCSB: The sixth-year “Super Senior” was named an All-Big West first-teamer after averaging 16 points and seven rebounds for the young Gauchos, scoring a season-high 29 in a win over Cal Poly.
MEN’S SWIMMING, BRADLEY MATSUMOTO, UCSB: Set a Big West Championship meet record in the 50 freestyle, missing Olympic hero Jason Lezak’s school record by a hundredth of a second. Also earned a Golden Eagle Award for having the highest GPA of any male Gaucho swimmer.
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL, JEFF MENZEL, UCSB: The sophomore outside hitter out of San Marcos High School paced UCSB’s attack all season long. He led the Gauchos in kills, attack attempts, aces, and points and was second in digs. Ranked sixth nationally in kills and 22nd in aces. Totaled 540 kills over the season, eighth on UCSB’s all-time single season list.
MEN’S GOLF, ANDREW PEREZ, SBCC: The Santa Barbara High alumnus led the Vaqueros to their first Western State Conference title in nine years under coach Chuck Melendez. Perez earned the conference’s Player of the Year Award for his 70.3 stroke average.
MEN’S TENNIS, ALEX KONIGSFELDT, UCSB: The sophomore out of Denmark earned Big West Player of the Year honors with a 9-8 record at the No. 1 spot. Beat two all-conference opponents and swept his doubles matches to guide the Gauchos to their fourth straight conference tournament title.
MEN’S TRACK AND FIELD, SCOTT SMITH, UCSB: Became the first Gaucho of the year to qualify for NCAA Regionals, running a 5000m of 14:03.28 at the Stanford Invitational. Smith took second place in Section 2, and his performance places him at third all-time in the 5000m for UCSB.
BASEBALL, BRIAN GUMP, UCSB: Currently hitting .320 overall and .359 in Big West play, having appeared in every game this season. His six homers tie for the team best and he has stolen 19 of 24 bases.
WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY, LISA GRIEGO, WESTMONT: Was the Warriors’ lone representative t the NAIA National Championships, where she finished 41st out of 336 racers with a time of 18 minutes, 22 seconds.
WOMEN’S SOCCER, GENELLE IVES, UCSB: Was named Big West Offensive Player of the Year after scoring eight goals with seven assists. The Gauchos won their first ever Big West Tournament Title.
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL, LAUREN McLAUGHLIN, UCSB: The Big West first-teamer led the Gauchos with her average of 3.63 kills per set this season, posting 12 double-double performances. McLaughlin ended her career at UCSB ranked seventh on the all-time career kills list with 1,417 and ranked second for all-time career kill attempts with 4,498.
WOMEN’S SWIMMING, ANNE MARIE MAY, UCSB: Earned the fourth All-American honor of her career after finishing 15th nationally in the 50 freestyle. She broke her own school record in the event earlier in the season and also anchored the Gauchos’ 200 medley relay team.
WOMEN’S WATER POLO, GILLIAN MORGAN, UCSB: Broke the UCSB single-season scoring record with 83 goals en route to being named to the All-Big West first team. She scored the sudden-death game-winner in an upset of top-seeded Northridge in the inaugural Big West tournament.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL, JENNA GREEN, UCSB: The sixth-year senior roared back from injury to lead the Gauchos to yet another Big West title, averaging 11 points and six rebounds. She posted two big double-doubles in the conference tournament and was subsequently named to the all-tourney team for the third time in her career. Also made the Division I-AAA Scholar-Athlete Team with a 4.0 GPA.
WOMEN’S GOLF, ASAKA SIM, SBCC: The Dos Pueblos graduate won the state individual title while leading the Vaqueros to the team championship. SBCC started the second round of the tournament four strokes behind but ended up winning by 15 strokes, with Sim firing a 74.
SOFTBALL, CHRISTINE RAMOS, UCSB: Led the Big West in hits for the fourth consecutive year and broke the Gaucho career record for hits as well as her own single season hits record. She hit for a .417 average this season, and will remain with the program as an assistant coach next season.
WOMEN’S TENNIS, MICHELLE MURPHY, UCSB: The junior transfer from Michigan State logged a 10-10 record at the top singles spot for the Gauchos, earning All-Big West second team honors. Joined Sofia Novak in doubles play and went 13-1 on the year including a 6-0 mark at the No. 1 spot.
WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD, BARBARA NWABA, UCSB: Broke UCSB’s heptathlon record earlier this season and was third at this weekend’s Big West Multi-Event Championships, where she finished with an even 5,000 points.
