San Marcos water polo’s Ava Stryker and Wyatt Miller of the Royals’ basketball team were honored as the Athletes of the Week at Monday’s Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Press Luncheon at Harry’s Plaza Cafe.
Stryker, a senior, led the girls water polo team to the Channel League championship and a No. 6 seeding in the CIF-SS Open Division playoffs.
In the Channel League tournament, the USC-bound standout scored four goals in a 20-5 semifinal rout over Ventura and followed with a three-goal performance in a 10-5 victory over Dos Pueblos for the championship.
Stryker is one of the top high school players in the country. She twice has been called to play for the USA Water Women’s Senior National Team in tournaments, and played on the USA Water Polo Youth National Team that won the FINA Youth World Championship last year.
Stryker and the Royals play at No. 5 Laguna Beach in the first round of the eight-team Open Division playoffs on Thursday.
Miller stepped up big for the San Marcos boys basketball team in the final week of the regular season. Playing three games and needing to win all three to secure a spot in the CIF-SS playoffs, Miller rose to the occasion, and the Royals went 3-0 to finish fourth in the Channel League and earn an automatic qualifying spot.
The senior guard scored 13 points in a win over Pacifica, made a pair of clutch three-pointers to help defeat Rio Mesa and capped the week with a 15-point performance in a 61-50 victory against crosstown rival Santa Barbara.
In that Santa Barbara game, he was the Royals’ catalyst in a fantastic first half that saw them build a 41-21 lead.
The male honorable mention choices for the award include Shaun Vague (Dos Pueblos wrestling) and Jesus Miranda (Santa Barbara High soccer).
The other female athletes in the running for the award were Victoria Bernard (Dos Pueblos wrestling), Pepper Marks (Santa Barbara wrestling), Galilea De La Cruz (Bishop Diego basketball) and Alexis Tucker (UCSB basketball).
The Athlete of the Week is selected by members of the local sports media. Coaches are encouraged to nominate deserving student athletes. Nominations should be sent to sports@noozhawk.com by Sunday at 10 a.m.
The award is sponsored by the law firm of Maho-Prentice.
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