SBART Press Luncheon: Bella Nuño Powers Dos Pueblos Softball
Sage Holter is the SBCC Scholar Athlete of the Year
Bella Nuño of Dos Pueblos softball and Nikko Carrillo of Dos Pueblos swimming stood out amongst an outstanding group of Santa Barbara area athletes to earn female and male Athlete of the Week honors at Monday’s press luncheon.
Nuño went 8 for 12, with four homers, including three in one game, two doubles, and 6 RBIs at the Best of the West Tournament at Righetti high school. She also pitched four innings in a win over Alemany.
The Chargers are in second place behind Rio Mesa in the Channel League with an 8-2 record and ranked No. 7 in the CIF-SS Division 4.
“She had a great week against San Marcos a couple weeks ago and hit two home runs in our victory over them. We thought she might get athlete of the week but it didn’t happen,” said Dos Pueblos softball coach Mike Gerken. “She was like, I only have one more chance really [to win athlete of the week] and here she is. It is kind of typical of Bella to set a goal and reach it.”
In the pool, Carrillo showed competitive excellence to come from behind in the last leg of the 4×400 free relay to give the Chargers the win and points to defeat San Marcos, 94-92, in a league dual meet. He also won the 200 individual medley and 200 backstroke.
“You really saw the depth of his determination and focus at the San Marcos meet when he was a good four or five seconds behind,” said Dos Pueblos swimming coach Christie Cable. “By the third turn he had caught up to the San Marcos swimmer. He shared that as they were turning they saw each other because they were right next to each other, and they smiled, they are also teammates on their club team. Nikko just kept on going and pulled a good half body length ahead.”
SBCC Scholar Athlete of the Year Award
Sage Holter is a talented runner for SBCC track & field and an even more impressive student, who aspires to be a mechanical engineer. She currently holds the SBCC 5K record of 17:22 and holds a 3.9 GPA.
At SBCC Holter’s course load includes General Chemistry; Heat, Light and Modern Physics; Introduction to Ethics Honors; and Engineering Dynamics. She will graduate with six Associate Degrees in May.
“From an athletic perspective she is committed and hardworking in a way that very few athletes are. I pretty much have to put a leash on her when I want her to take a day off,” said SBCC track & field coach Scott Fickerson. “It has been an immense pleasure and joy working with her. My only regret is that because of the time she took off I only got to work with her for one year, but I’m going to enjoy the last few weeks that we have.”
Westmont Baseball Among Best in NAIA
The Warriors boast a 34-8 record after taking two of three games from The Master’s this past weekend.
Westmont is ranked No. 11 in NAIA and holds a one-game lead over Hope International in Golden State Athletic Conference play.
Sophomore Bryce McFeely is one of the top players on the Westmont roster and currently bolsters the lineup from the cleanup spot. He is batting .311 with five home runs and 38 RBI’s.
“He didn’t get much playing time last year as a freshman with a lot of our returners back, but he transformed his play on the field and transformed what he did in the weight room,” said Westmont baseball coach Tyler Latorre. “He is currently our cleanup hitter. He’s hitting well over .300 with more walks than strikeouts. He’s leading our team in RBI’s and doing everything that it takes to be a good teammate.”
