The final Santa Barbara Athletic Press Luncheon of the 2024-25 academic year celebrated outstanding student athletes that have flourished in the postseason in their quest for CIF Southern Championships.
Linnea Clapinski of Dos Pueblos High girls’ lacrosse and Bennett Sullivan of Laguna Blanca swimming were honored as SBART Athletes of the Week.
Sullivan was a member of the Owls’ CIF Champion 4×50 freestyle and the 4×100 freestyle relay teams at the CIF-SS Division 3 Championships. Individually, he took fourth place in the 100 breaststroke and fifth place in the 200 IM.
Clapinski was the driving force offensively in the Chargers’ run to the CIF-SS Division 3 semifinals with five goals in an 8-7 overtime victory over Glendale in the quarterfinals and six goals in a 12-10 loss to Oaks Christians in the semifinals.
UCSB Scholar Athlete of the Year
Cole Anderson traveled a rare path in modern college basketball. He spent all four years at UC Santa Barbara and will be graduating next month.
In the age of the transfer portal and NIL it is common for players to switch programs multiple times in search of greener pastures or financial incentives. For Anderson, being a Gaucho for life was all the incentive he needed.
“Very rarely in college basketball today does anybody stay at one school for four years,” said UCSB coach Joe Pasternack. “What he did with his family is they went totally against the grain for the right reasons.
“That to me is who he is and his character. He wanted to get a degree from UC Santa Barbara.”
Anderson leaves UC Santa Barbara as a legendary sharpshooter. He capped his career with a Big-West leading 47.4 three-point field goal percentage in his senior season.
Academically, Anderson maintained a 3.52 cumulative GPA in his time at UC Santa Barbara and made the Academic All-Big West Team his sophomore, junior and senior years.
Winning Time
The UC Santa Barbara baseball team concludes the regular season with a home series against Cal State Bakersfield this upcoming weekend.
The top five teams in the Big West Conference standings move on to the conference tournament, and the Gauchos are currently in fifth place.
The Gauchos (34-16 overall, 14-13 Big West) must win two of their three games against the Roadrunners to secure a spot in the Big West Championship. The series begins on Thursday evening beginning at 4:35 p.m.
Home Cooking
The Santa Barbara High boys’ volleyball will host Sage Hill in the CIF-SS Division 4 championship game on Saturday at 1 p.m.
The Dons have caught lightning in a bottle during their playoff run with victories over Elsinore, Foothill, Notre Dame in Sherman Oaks, and Santaigo of Corona.
