The third-to-last Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table press luncheon of the school year brought together dozens of local student-athletes and their coaches to Harry’s Plaza Cafe on Monday.
Find a recap of the gathering’s events below.
PROGRAM
Talia Van Wingerden
INTRODUCTION
Rich Hanna, Round Table PresidentPHIL WOMBLE ETHICS IN SPORTS AWARD
Talia Van Wingerden, Bishop Diego
Presented by Bob Archer, Jason DonnellyATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Christian Widmer, San Marcos Volleyball
Elysia Hodges, Westmont Track & FieldCOACHES REPORTS (In order of Appearance)
Christine Ramos, UCSB Softball – The Gauchos are 9-9 in the Big West standings and are coming off a 6-5 win in which Lauren Boser hit a game-winning home run. “We had a slow start but we’re coming around,” Ramos said.
Jeff Walker, SBCC Baseball – The Vaqueros went 3-0 last week to clinch second place in the WSC North and a playoff berth. It’s the third-straight season the Vaqueros have reached the postseason, a first in program history.
Zach Etheredge, UCSB Baseball – The Gauchos won three of four games last week, including a 2-0 shutout win on Saturday featuring a combined shutout from start Justin Jacome and closer Dylan Hecht.
Jeff Swann, San Marcos Softball – Veronica Villarreal and Hannah Ball were representing the Royals. Ball provided the game-winning hit in San Marcos’ last game, a 5-4 win over Ventura. This week the Royals play rival Santa Barbara twice.
Athlete of the Week Christian Widmer
Dillan Bennett, Laguna Blanca Volleyball – ?Bennett was happy to report that the Owls have won 13 straight and are “on fire.” Andrew Vignolo has been a .force during the win streak
George Rempe, Santa Barbara High Baseball – Four seniors came to the luncheon from the Dons baseball team, completing Coach Rempe’s goal of bringing every senior to the luncheon this spring. ?Monday’s group included?Beau Parker, Jack Kaiser, Peter Ghersen and Tyler Newman. All four have college plans next year, with Newman recently getting accepted into an exclusive engineering program at Cal Berkeley.
Roger Kuntz, San Marcos Volleyball – The Royals upset league-leading Santa Barbara on Thursday to highlight a 3-0 week in which the Royals put themselves in a position to win a league title this week. Athlete of the Week Christian Widmer was accompanied at the luncheon by Max Wilson and Emerson Pizzinat.
Marty Davis, UCSB Tennis – The Gauchos just won a Big West Championship yesterday in Indian Wells. Davis thanked the community for its support, noting the important contributions from local products Miles Seeman and Sasha Gryaznov to UCSB’s conference championship. Assistant coach Taylor Chavez-Goggin also played high school tennis locally at Santa Barbara High.
Aaron Solis, San Marcos Royals – San Marcos’ baseball team is still in the hunt for a playoff berth after a 2-1 victory over Ventura.?Daniel Dzierski and?Joe Ortiz are helping the Royals on the field and in the classroom as the team placed a close second for an All-Academic Team CIF Championship.
Victor Alvarez, Santa Barbara High Softball – Alvarez brought three players that have shown a passion to learn the game of softball in?Alejandra Castillo, Cristina Garcia, and Francesca Richardson. The Dons are coming off a double-header sweep of Santa Barbara on Saturday.
Athlete of the Week Elysia Hodges
Marilyn Hantgin, San Marcos Track & Field – The Royals won the Team Sweepstakes at the County Track & Field Championships with the best all-around performance across all levels. Underclassmen?Courtney Clyde, Tyson Miller and Hannah Harrah have bright futures while seniors Ian Hall and Michael Orosco-Moore have provided leadership in mid-distance running and throwing, respectively.
Russell Smelley, Westmont Track & Field – Smelley’s Warriors hosted the GSAC Championships on Saturday. Better yet, the Warrior men won their first ever conference title and the women’s team finished a close second. Athlete of the Week Elysia Hodges won two individual titles for the Warriors and was a member of the 4×400 relay team that set a new GSAC record with a time of 3:49.99.
Van Latham, Carpinteria Track & Field – One of the good things about the Warriors Track & Field season is that they don’t have to travel much. The Warriors have the strange experience of hosting a string of major meets in Carpinteria Valley Memorial Stadium. Already having done the Russell Cup and the County Championships, up next is the Tri-Valley League Championships on Thursday followed by the Division 4 CIF Prelims. Gabby Fantone, Bryson Frazer and Peter Ramos joined Latham on Monday.
Nick Katzenstein, Dos Pueblos Baseball – The Chargers maintained their edge in the Channel League with a 9-4 win over Ventura. Katzenstein introduced players Drake Gilliland, Tyler Harris and Brody Curtis.
Jon Uyesaka, Dos Pueblos Softball – Jade Sinskul and Ady Willett are a freshman and a sophomore making big contributions to the 19-3-1 Chargers this season. ?”Both these girls are great representations of the future of our team.”
Dan Peeters, Bishop Diego Athletics – The baseball team is 4-2 in the Tri-Valley League. Shortstop Scott Mandrell is hitting .323 and has an on-base percentage of .417. Pitcher/Outfielder Nolan Tooley is 4-2 on the mound. Eva Denunzio and Van Wingerden were there for the softball team.
Chris Jones, Dos Pueblos Volleyball – The Chargers are excited for a huge match on Tuesday against Santa Barbara. Cameron Fry and Josh Lemons will be on display for Dos Pueblos.
Robert Beamer, UCSB Track & Field – Beamer was thrilled to announce that a recent vote is leading to the resurfacing of the track at UCSB, a welcomed upgrade for the program. Throwers Albert Hughes and?Pat Smith joined Beamer at the luncheon.
Dave Loveton, SBCC Athletics – Bruna Magalhaes won a State Championship for the Vaqueros at the Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament in the Junior College division. Magalhaes didn’t lose a set on her way to the title. ?The track team, led by Athlete of the Week honorable mention Cliff Lekas, has 29 athletes qualified for SoCal Regionals.
