The fall sports season has continued to march on, as coaches and teams met for the fourth Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Press Luncheon on Monday.
The luncheon was headlined by Santa Barbara High naming basketball and track star Carter Battle the first Phil Womble Ethics Award winner of the year.
As it states on the SBART website, “This award acknowledges student-athletes who value and incorporate into their daily lives, the following qualities: accountability, respect of teammates, opponents, and officials, honesty, positive attitude, reliability, loyalty, sportsmanship, others above self, and team above personal interest.”
“In 25 plus years of coaching, I have not had the privilege to coach a better human than Carter Battle,” Dons basketball coach Greg Zuffelato said. “On the court, on the track and in the classroom he truly epitomizes all the characteristics of the Phil Womble Award.”
Battle was the captain of the varsity basketball team his sophomore and junior years and was named to First Team All-League in basketball for his sophomore season.
In track, he was the Rookie of the Year and County High Jump Champion in his freshman year.
Off the court and track, Battle has a 4.5 GPA, has accumulated 134 community service hours and is the Sports Editor for the school newspaper, The Forge.
“Carter is a tremendous athlete in his own right, but what makes him even more special is the support he shows to so many athletes of our other teams here at SBHS,” Dons athletic director Todd Heil said.
“He’s at so many events on campus always supporting others and always in a positive way.”
Battle had plenty of people to thank when receiving the award, including his teachers, coach Zuffelato, his parents and his brother.
“I want to thank all my teachers for pushing me and allowing me to work hard and get the grades that I want to earn,” Battle said. “I want to thank Coach Z, who has, off the court, been like a second father to me.
“I want to thank my parents for making so many sacrifices for me, dedicating time, money and sleep to allow me to do the things that I love.
“And I want to thank my brother because without him I wouldn’t be a basketball player. All those days in the driveway playing 1-on-1 together is something that I will cherish forever.”
Following Battle’s recognition, 17 high school teams reviewed the last week of competition and gave a look into the week ahead.
Along with the high school level, representatives from SBCC and UCSB athletics highlighted the success of fall sports and some big matchups in the near future.
Vaquero women’s water polo is off to a dominant start to its season, now 8-0 on the year and 1-0 in conference play. SBCC football is coming off a dominant 48-14 victory over Orange Coast and will host College of the Canyons for the league opener on Saturday.
Meanwhile, UCSB Men’s Soccer is preparing to welcome Cal Poly for the non-conference edition of this year’s Blue-Green Rivalry game on Saturday, a game in which head coach Tim Vom Steeg expects record-breaking attendance from the Gaucho faithful.
The student-athletes in attendance, by order of appearance:
Laguna Blanca Football: Spencer Hlavaty, Gabriel Lea
Santa Barbara City College Football: Grant Hessler, Matt Croteau
Santa Barbara High Girls Golf: Savannah Delesalle, Jayna Malmsten
Dos Pueblos Flag Football: Madi Jones, Taylor Hayes
San Marcos Boys Water Polo: Luke Burns
Carpinteria Football: Sebastian Hernandez, Sawyer Kelly
Carpinteria Boys Water Polo: Sky Korling, Jake Ehlers
Carpinteria Girls Golf: Jamaica Cook, Kiana Kiah
San Marcos Girls Golf: Talia Cummings, Sadi Adams
San Marcos Flag Football: Marilyn Monroy, Molly McCarter
San Marcos Football: Robert Simentales, Austin Sanchez
Santa Barbara Football: Abel Renteria, Sammy Perez, Malachi Johnston
Santa Barbara Flag Football: Jaz Gordon, Ale Alcocer Vasquez
Dos Pueblos Girls Golf: Sofia Elena, Angelia Pagliaro
Dos Pueblos Boys Water Polo: Liam Summer, Aden Bishop
Dos Pueblos Football: Zac Gesswein, Micah Barnhart
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