The 2026 SBCC Hall of Fame Induction Celebration put into focus the historic achievements of Addison Seale, Jack Sanford, Kailey Snyder Lecher, Mitch Wishnowsky, Rachelle Visser, and Tim Vom Steeg’s 1996 State Champion men’s soccer team.
Before coaching his alma mater, UC Santa Barbara, to an NCAA Championship, Vom Steeg started the SBCC men’s and women’s soccer programs in 1992, attracting local donors and creating an outlet for the talent-rich Central Coast soccer community.
After four successful seasons, the Vaqueros captured the state championship in 1996 with a 6-0 victory over Palomar College, capping off a 20-2-0 season. The win total was surpassed only by Vom Steeg’s final SBCC team in 1998, which went 21-3-2.
“We have our own style of soccer here in Santa Barbara. This team had its own style, and this style meant that as a coach all I really had to do was roll out the ball, put the players in the right places and, of course, make sure they got to class,” Vom Steeg said. “Our style was local, and it came from kids growing up playing against each other in the streets, in the parks, and in the communities. It was kids growing up playing with their dads, their brothers, and their uncles. It was a style that was very distinct to us.”
Eleven of the 17 players on the 1996 team were from high schools in Santa Barbara or Ventura County.
Jack Sanford became the first SBCC tennis coach in 1965 and accumulated a 459-143 record before retiring in 1994.
At Saturday’s ceremony, Sanford credited SBCC President Dr. Julio Bortolazzo for his integral role in opening an on-campus tennis facility in 1974 that paved the way for the program’s continued success.
“We received support from SBCC faculty and the administration, and on top of that list would be Dr. Bortolazzo,” Sanford said.
Sanford’s teams captured 12 Western State Conference titles, made the state finals in 1978, and won the 1989 state championship with a 24-2 overall record. In addition to the SBCC Hall of Fame, Sanford was inducted into the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Hall of Fame in 1998, the California Community College Tennis Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2000, and the Santa Barbara Tennis Patrons Hall of Fame in 2013.
“Last, but not least — and in fact far from it — are the wonderful student-athletes I was fortunate enough to coach,” Sanford said. “From the Hanford High School players to all the other tennis players who enrolled in the SBCC varsity tennis program, to all of you who attended today and to those who could not, thank you, thank you, thank you.”
Softball pitcher Kailey Snyder-Lecher was inducted after leading SBCC to its most successful season in program history in 2011. Nicknamed “The Hurricane” for her dominant fastball, Snyder guided the Vaqueros to their first Western State Conference championship and a 31-7 overall record, setting school marks for both victories and consecutive wins.
Snyder posted a 27-4 pitching record with a 0.94 ERA and 233 strikeouts, earning Southern California Community College Pitcher of the Year honors and Junior College All-America recognition. She also contributed offensively, batting .478 during the championship season. Her career totals established program records for strikeouts and shutouts before she continued her collegiate career at Colorado State.
Former swimmer Rachelle Visser was honored for helping launch SBCC women’s swimming into immediate success following the program’s debut in 2014. A native of the Netherlands, Visser quickly established herself as one of the top swimmers in school history, posting top-seven times in 10 events.
Visser helped lead the Vaqueros to their first Western State Conference title in 2015 and earned conference Swimmer of the Year honors. She capped her sophomore season by winning both the 200 and 400 individual medley events at the CCCAA State Championships, earning “Performance of the Meet” recognition while leading SBCC to an eighth-place team finish.
“Chuckie Roth became my family, his family became my family, and he made me feel like this was my home,” Visser said. “Santa Barbara and being international opened my view to how things can be completely different, even though you would think they are quite similar. There were many cultural differences that I had to deal with, and Chuckie also had to deal with them because I was always very open and honest about everything I was feeling.”
Punter Mitch Wishnowsky became one of SBCC’s most prominent athletic success stories after progressing from Australian rules football to the NFL. After training as a punter in Melbourne, Wishnowsky enrolled at SBCC in 2014 and quickly impressed coaches with his athleticism and precision kicking ability.
He earned all-state honors before transferring to the University of Utah, where he won the prestigious Ray Guy Award as the nation’s top collegiate punter and became the first three-time finalist in the award’s history. The San Francisco 49ers selected him in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft, making him one of only two punters drafted that year.
Wishnowsky later became the first former Vaquero to appear in a Super Bowl, playing in two championship games with the 49ers. Now entering his eighth NFL season after signing with the Buffalo Bills, he remains one of the league’s most reliable punters and continues to maintain ties to Santa Barbara, where he lives with his family.
“When I first came to America, I had never played football and knew nothing about the game,” Wishnowsky said of his time at SBCC. “My job was to kick it. Moropoulos and the coaching staff were there to incorporate me into it.
“He let me run lots of fakes. That was super cool. Thanks, Morop. That’s when I first fell in love with the game.”
Women’s water polo standout Addison Seale helped establish SBCC’s emerging program as a regional power. Seale led the Vaqueros to their first Southern California Regional championship during the program’s third season in 2016 and later earned Western State Conference Player of the Year honors.
A two-sport athlete who also excelled in swimming, Seale became one of the most decorated competitors in school history. She set a school record with 107 assists during her sophomore water polo season while collecting multiple All-America honors in both sports. She also earned SBCC’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year award before graduating from UC Santa Barbara with a degree in philosophy.
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