It was a busy Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Press Luncheon on Monday as San Marcos handed out its Scholar-Athlete of the Year and honored its CIF champion boys water polo team, fall sports gave their final remarks and winter sports previewed their upcoming seasons.
The Round Table was held at Harry’s Plaza Cafe, and this week’s guest host was Tully Ramsaur.
San Marcos Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Boys tennis standout Matthew Chung was honored as San Marcos’ recipient of the Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Chung is a co-captain on the team and is entering his fourth year at the varsity level, earning a spot on the All-Channel League first team each of his first three seasons with the Royals.
He was a Channel League doubles champion in 2022 and has competed in USTA tournaments for eight years.
“Not only is he excelling in the classroom but he has really grown to be a phenomenal leader on the tennis court,” San Marcos tennis coach Emily Carver said. “He’s really grown up to be an amazing part of our team and someone that we really rely on.”
Off the court, Chung boasts a stellar 4.89 GPA while taking several advanced placement classes. He has been named an AP Scholar with Distinction and is a member of both the National Honors Society and the California Scholarship Federation.
He plans to study finance or economics and play tennis at the club level in college.
“I want to thank the Gamberdellas and the Athletic Round Table for putting all of this together and making this award possible,” Chung said. “I wouldn’t be here today without all my coaches and my parents for all the resources they’ve given me to be so driven academically and on the court.”
Chung joins Cate’s Sebastian Sutch and Dos Pueblos’ Jaden Moore as this year’s recipients of the award, which is sponsored by Marc Gamberdella of the Gamberdella-Spruill Group of Merrill Lynch.
San Marcos Honors CIF Div. 2 Boys Water Polo Champions
The entire Royals squad was in attendance at Monday’s round table to show off their newly acquired CIF Division 2 championship plaque.
San Marcos took down crosstown rival Dos Pueblos by a score of 9-6 in the title game on Saturday.
“Thank you to the community for the support and for making Saturday night a special and electrifying moment,” Royals coach Peera Sukavivatanachai said.
It is the program’s first CIF championship since 1994.
“It’s an honor and a privilege to coach these young men,” Sukavivatanachai, a San Marcos alum, said. “To my boys, I’m so proud of you. Thank you for your hard work and for trusting me through the season.”
Winter Sports are Ready to Roll
With winter sports beginning this week, local prep basketball, soccer and girls water polo teams were in attendance to set the stage for the 2023-24 season.
In boys basketball, Santa Barbara High will look to repeat as city champions this season. However, they will have to do so without All-League performer Carter Battle, who recently tore his ACL and is out for the entirety of the season.
Despite Battle’s injury, Dons head coach Greg Zuffelato remains confident about the upcoming season.
“I can’t be more excited about this group,” Zuffelato said. “We have an amazing group that has been working hard.”
On the hardwood for the girls, San Marcos is coming off a 9-5 season in which they were crowned the city champions. After losing six seniors, the Royals will turn to some new faces as they search for back-to-back city titles.
“I think we’re going to be great, great competitors for league and going into playoffs,” San Marcos head coach Tiffany Simms said. “We actually have some height this year, so I’m really excited for that.”
The Royals also finished as the city champions in girls soccer and will look to defend their Channel League title in boys soccer, coming off a dominant 13-0-1 record.
As it has been year in and year out, the upcoming girls water polo season should be a competitive one. Last season, San Marcos (8-0), Dos Pueblos (6-2) and Santa Barbara (5-3) finished as the top three teams in the Channel League, respectively.
“Our season hasn’t started yet, but there’s been a lot of preparation for the upcoming season,” Royals coach Chucky Roth said. “We have a lot of aspirations… I’m really appreciative of this group and what they bring to practice every day.”
Winter sports will begin on Tuesday and run until February.
For a full stream of Monday’s luncheon, click here.
Student-athletes in attendance, by order of appearance:
San Marcos Boys Tennis: Matthew Chung
San Marcos Boys Water Polo: Full roster
San Marcos Girls Water Polo: Makenna Stretz, Shea Estabrook
Carpinteria High Girls Basketball: Amarisse Camargo, Isabella Vasquez
Carpinteria High Girls Water Polo: Lilli Nemetz, Devon Clayton
San Marcos Girls Basketball: Natasha Stapf, Mia Martinez-Tomatis
Santa Barbara High Girls Soccer: Carolina Esparza, Izzy Garofalo
Santa Barbara High Football: Kai Mault, Jacob Nevarez
Santa Barbara High Girls Basketball: Miranda Dennis, Jaz Gordon, Dayzia Mendoza
Santa Barbara High Girls Water Polo: Allison Ruiz, Chloe Merrick
Carpinteria High Girls Soccer: Emma Miller, Lela Roberts
San Marcos Boys Basketball: Micah Jacobi, Joe Pasternack
Dos Pueblos Girls Soccer: Jennifer Polunets, Maggie Gallup
Santa Barbara High Boys Basketball: Carter Battle, Luke Zuffelato, Tobin Shyrock
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