Last week was incredibly special for a pair of San Marcos athletes.
On Tuesday, Brittany Peretiako fired the first hole-in-one of her life in a golf match against Dos Pueblos.
On Friday night, football player Andrew Thayer returned the opening kickoff 94 yards for the first touchdown on the new turf field at the renamed Warkentin Stadium. The Royals went on to beat Hueneme for their first win of the season and the first for coach Dale Perizzolo.
Perizzolo, in his presentation at Monday’s Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table press luncheon at Harry’s Plaza Cafe, spoke of Thayer’s great speed and the player’s desire to get into the end zone every time he handles the ball. He added that the win was dedicated to the late Jeff Hesselmeyer, the Royals’ coach who passed away suddenly in July.
On the hole-in-one, San Marcos director of student activities Aaron Solis, speaking for golf coach Shawn Ricci, said Peretiako took her special moment all in stride.
Andrew Thayer of San Marcos football is the male Athlete of the Week.
“She didn’t even know it was a hole in one until her teammate and the DP players were excited for her,” Solis said of the ace on No. 6 at Glen Annie Golf Course.
Solis said Peretiako’s reaction to the feat was so nonchalant that she continued to use the same ball in her round, despite the objections from teammate Melissa Jewkes.
“She continued to use the ball despite Melissa telling her, ‘Save it, save it!’ ’’ Solis related. “She didn’t think it was a big deal. She ended up losing that ball.”
Solis couldn’t believe it when Peretiako told him the story the next day at school.
“Do you know the odds of making a hole in one?” he asked her. “You have a greater chance of being hit by lightning than you do getting a hole in one.”
To which she replied, “ ‘I’ve been hit by lightning, too.’ ’’
She told him the story of a family trip in the South in which the car they were driving in was struck by a bolt of lightning.
SBCC's Jessica Domenichelli is the female Athlete of the Week.
“So she’s been struck by lightning and made a hole in,” Solis said in amazement. “So, I think in the next couple of weeks if the lottery gets over 100 million dollars, I’m going to ask her for lottery numbers so I can play it.”
Other luncheon highlights:
Solis said the Royals girls tennis team took a step back in time as they prepared for the season. The team didn’t have a coach, so captains Caitlin Mannix and Parisa Fallahi took it upon themselves to organize practices.
“Caitlin and Parisa have gone over and beyond the call of duty,” said Solis, who coached the team in the first match. “They basically were going way back … old school … to the late 1800s, when college athletics started — the teams were started by the students themselves and there were player-coaches. The first couple of weeks of the season that’s what Caitlin and Parisa did, they were the student-coaches. It was a true student-athlete team. They did a phenomenal job.”
Alex Sheldon is now coaching the team and he has them off to a 3-2 overall record and a 1-1 mark in the Channel League.
Bishop Diego assistant football coach Ralph Molina said three big hits by the defense to start the game set the tone for the Cardinals in their 45-14 win over Santa Paula. The last hit, a crushing tackle by their sophomore safety, forced a fumble and Bishop scored two players later.
Bishop hosts Fillmore, the No. 8-ranked team in the CIF Northwest Division, on Saturday at La Playa Stadium.
Santa Barbara High football coach Jaime Melgoza said he liked how his team played in the 16-13 loss against Rio Mesa.
“I thought we outplayed them.” he said. “We played clean, disciplined, great football. The kids are excited to be at Santa Barbara High and they’re ready to play some football. That’s exciting to me, to have those kids around.”
Jeff Uyesaka, the football coach at Dos Pueblos, congratulated San Marcos on its victory. “Coach Hess would be proud,” he said.
Uyesaka, whose team is 0-4, was brief with his comments, saying, “I want to bank my minutes when we do win.”
Carpinteria football coach Ben Hallock said he wasn’t sure what was going to happen after the Warriors’ game against Santa Ynez was called after a lengthy halftime because of thunder and lightning.
The game will either be a no contest or a Santa Ynez win. The Pirates were leading 21-0 at the half.
Classes just started at UCSB, and men’s tennis coach Marty Davis said he’s “happy to welcome the No. 1 recruiting class for mid-major schools.” The class includes “the best California recruit we’ve had in a decade and the national JC player of the year, who is a native of Zimbabwe. It’ll be fun to have a little mix of California and international players on our team.”
Davis also announced that Wayne Bryan, the father of world No. 1-ranked doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan and a UCSB grad, will be the recipient of the Distinguised Gaucho Award next spring. Wayne Bryan will be celebrated at a fundraising event on Feb. 18, with all proceeds benefitting UCSB men’s and women’s tennis and the Santa Barbara Tennis Patrons.
UCSB women’s tennis coach Pete Kirkwood said his team is hosting the second annual Gaucho Classic, Oct. 7-9.
Kirkwood said he’s also got a great recruiting class, and kept the tradition of recruiting sisters to his program. The latest sister act is April Scatliffe, whose older sibling, Charlotte, is a former Gaucho star and the current assistant coach.
Santa Barbara High girls tennis coach Steve Geremia said the Dons have the largest group of freshman players on the varsity and are playing as “hard a schedule you can have in California.”
The Dons played two-time Division 1 champion Campbell Hall and Palos Verdes, and reached the semifinals in the 161-team California Championships in Fresno. They have an upcoming match with Division 1 No. 2-ranked Dana Hills.
“I don’t think we’ll play a Division 2 team until league and CIF,” he said.
Carpinteria tennis coach Niels Johnson said he has the strongest team in his four years at the helm and should challenge Villanova for the Frontier League title.
Athletes of the Week: SBCC’s Jessica Domenichelli won the female award for scoring a goal and adding two assists in the first half in a 3-0 win over L.A. Pierce in a battle of unbeaten nationally ranked teams.
The male winner was Andrew Thayer of San Marcos for his performance in the Royals’ first football win. Besides the kickoff return, he caught two passes for 50 yards and had a pair of touchdown plays — 53-yard reverse and 50-yard punt return — called back by penalties.
