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The freshest news in Santa Barbara County
The winter sports season is upon us, and with that came the introduction of basketball and soccer teams to the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Press Luncheon on Monday at Harry’s Plaza Cafe.
With local winter sports opening up their seasons as early as today, the best cross country teams will continue their seasons this weekend at the CIF-SS Finals meet.
A full video of Monday’s luncheon will be linked here when it is made available by SBART.
Winter Sports Season Kicks Off
While the UCSB Gauchos opened up their basketball season earlier this month, the local high schools will hit the hardwood as soon as Monday night.
In the Channel League, Santa Barbara High will look to repeat as league champions with a much different team. The Dons graduated 14 seniors last year, and do not roster a single senior on this year’s squad.
“It’s a very different team, but different doesn’t mean bad because they’ve really come a long way since the summer when we played a lot and trained a lot together,” Santa Barbara High head coach Greg Zuffelato said.
“We’ve got a bunch of juniors, sophomores and freshmen that are really starting to come together. So, we’re excited about the season.”
San Marcos, led by the senior pairing of Koji Hefner and Brody Green, will look to challenge the Dons for the top spot in the league after a second-place finish last season. Meanwhile, Dos Pueblos will look to improve on a fifth-place showing.
In the Tri-Valley League, hopes are high for the Bishop Diego boys basketball program under first-year head coach Caleb Richey. The Cardinals open their season against Lompoc on Thursday.
“I’m excited,” Richey said. “We have a lot of returners, some newcomers coming along. I believe the energy is a little different from last season, and I’m looking forward to this season for sure.”
As for the girls side, Dos Pueblos is the lone local basketball team coming off a playoff appearance. However, the Chargers will have a new look this year after the resignation of Manny Murillo.
On the pitch, San Marcos girls soccer is coming off a 12-6-4 regular season mark. That landed the Royals as the top team in town and they will look to build off that success with plenty of returning talent.
“We’re looking forward to the season,” San Marcos head coach Miguel Vences said. “The great thing about our team is we have six returning players from a very solid team last year. So, we’re excited to see how they gel with the three or four players that we’ve moved up from the JV roster.”
In boys soccer, San Marcos and Dos Pueblos each reached the CIF-SS playoffs last year, while Santa Barbara High will hope to bounce back from a two-win season last year.
Cross Country Squads Head Into CIF Finals
Local racers excelled on a rainy day at Mt. San Antonio College last weekend at the CIF-SS Prelim races, punching their tickets to this weekend’s CIF-SS Finals meet.
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Dos Pueblos and Cate each had both of their teams advance to this weekend, while the San Marcos and Carpinteria High girls squads moved on as well. Meanwhile, the Royals and Warriors will each have individual boys in the finals meet as well.
“The Channel League had a great showing,” San Marcos head coach Marilyn Hantgin said. “We had people winning the races, all of the teams making it. So it was really great for our Channel League in general to show how great we are in the Southern Section.
“[The girls] had a great time out there. They felt good about it, and now we just have to repeat next week and try to make it onto the state championship. That’s our goal, so hopefully that will happen.”
The local teams will head back down to Mt. San Antonio College this weekend with their sights set on the CIF State Finals in Clovis next weekend.
“We need to be in the top seven out of the 16 teams that have qualified for this finals event,” Dos Pueblos boys cross country coach Michael Smedley said. “So hopefully, we can get through this and be where we really want to be at Clovis in two weeks.”
Student-Athletes in Attendance
Santa Barbara High Girls Basketball: Audrey Castillo, Eva Rogers, Alina Zaridas
San Marcos Girls Soccer: Harlyn Griffin, Sofia Faraoni
Santa Barbara High Boys Basketball: Owen Horn, Levi Oakes
San Marcos Girls Basketball: Janelle Capuno, Amelyse Wong
San Marcos Boys Basketball: Koji Hefner, Brody Green
San Marcos Cross Country: Wyatt Degner, Elsie Tuttle
Dos Pueblos Cross Country: Jasmin Vela, Amelia Vela
Carpinteria High Cross Country: Jacqueline Guadian, Mila Martin, Max Soto, Edwin Hernandez
Carpinteria High Girls Basketball: Jamaica Cook, Leona McClellan
Bishop Diego Girls Soccer: Kate Douglas, Abbey Hubbs
Bishop Diego Boys Soccer: Amari Jones
Bishop Diego Girls Basketball: Jaymi Coronado, Kacey Seashore
Bishop Diego Boys Basketball: Rudy Blue, Crew Sjovold
San Marcos Boys Soccer: Wesley Monroy, Robert Rosales
Noozhawk sports editor Diego Sandoval can be reached at dsandoval@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter and Instagram @NoozhawkSports
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