San Marcos’ Riley Heiduk
In the pool, in the classroom, or in the community, Riley Heiduk has made a name for herself as a student leader at San Marcos High School. At Monday’s Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table press luncheon, Heiduk was recognized as the Royals’ Phil Womble Award recipient for the 2013-14 school year.
The Round Table presents the Phil Womble Ethics in Sports Award to student-athletes who demonstrate the highest standards of ethics and sportsmanship. Each school selects a junior on an annual basis.
Award presenter, Dave Pintard of Investec, shared some comments from Heiduk’s aquatics coach at San Marcos, Brian “Chuckie” Roth, about the complete package that Heiduk brings to the table.
“Brian describes Riley as one of those athletes who makes big impacts in quiet ways,” Pintard said. “She would be the first to credit others or pass on an award of recognition. She always plays sports because she loves to compete and she always wants to win. More importantly, Riley understands the core values in sports. She is ethical, honest, hard-working, dedicated, and a humble student-athlete.”
The junior is a team captain for the girls water polo team and competes for the swim team in the spring. Her accomplishments and resume include being active with the AAPLE Academy, National Charity League, National Honor Society, Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation, and the California Scholarship Foundation. Heiduk holds the title of president for San Marcos’ chapter of the Dream Academy.
Heiduk, accompanied by her parents, Coach Roth and San Marcos administrators, took a moment at the podium to give thanks.
“Being surrounded by such wonderful people makes it easy for me to follow in their footsteps,” Heiduk said.
“I’d like to thank Chuckie for being such an important role model in my life and all his guidance through the years. I’m so honored to receive the Phil Womble Award, and I’d like to thanks my parents and my brother for being such a great guidance.”
