Sarah Douglas is ranked No. 1 in her class at San Marcos

Sarah Douglas embraced the full high school experience and more at San Marcos.

She’s been a two-sport athlete for the Royals, played clarinet in the state-champion marching band, participated on the mock trial team, held the position of Associated Student Body class secretary, is a member of the school’s Accelerated Academic Program for Leadership and Enrichment (AAPLE) Leadership Council and serves as the program’s treasurer.

If that’s not enough, she is the Chief Financial Officer for the Kids Helping Kids program, which this year raised more than $461,000 for economically disadvantaged youth. She’s also completed more than 1,000 hours of community service work.

She does it all while being the top-ranked student in her class with a 4.95 GPA.

Douglas on Monday was honored at the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table press luncheon as the Scholar-Athlete of the Year for San Marcos.

The left-handed Douglas played on the Channel League-champion San Marcos tennis team in the fall. Currently, she is the starting second baseman on the Royals softball team. She was moved from first base to second to strengthen the middle of the infield.

“Though it seemed odd at first, I soon adapted and now I love the position,” she said in a statement for the award presentation.

In tennis, Douglas applied her knowledge in physics to improve her serve.

“I taught myself the mechanics of serving by employing physics. As nerdy as it sounds, by analyzing the angle of depression, the angular torque applied to the ball and the position of impact, I was able to create a left-handed side-spin serve that shifts laterally in midair,” she explained. “This innovative serve has helped me greatly in my tennis career.”

Douglas is taking Advanced Placement Physics 2 and AP Calculus this semester, along with AAPLE Senior Leadership. Last semester, her class schedule included AP Micro and Macroeconomics and AP English and Composition.

Her academic awards include National Merit Scholar, AP Scholar with Distinction, Director’s Award (Instrumental Music), National Honor Society lifetime member, California Scholarship Federation lifetime member.

The college choices for the daughter of Janet and Mark Douglas include Duke, Penn, Dartmouth, UCLA and Cal. She plans to major in engineering and hopes to volunteer with Engineers Without Borders during and after college.

“I hope to redesign current medical and prosthetic technology such that it effectively meets the needs of those living in third-world populations,” she said.