It’s that time of year, when our favorite local prep stars are announcing where they’ll take their talents in the fall. While the city of Santa Maria breeds college-level athletes left and right, neighboring Orcutt is a smaller community with a still-developing high school sports culture.
Joining the Los Padres League in 2014, Orcutt Academy has taken significant strides in gaining relevance on the Central Coast scene. A cohort of athletes that have helped pave the way for Orcutt sports are inching toward graduation, and a handful of them are set to continue their careers.
On May 3, three Orcutt Academy students made college commitments for their chosen sport. The Sun caught up with them this week to hear their stories.
Tony Andoyan (soccer, Notre Dame de Namur)
When he was 11, Tony Andoyan showed enough promise while playing on the local youth team (coached by his dad) to be invited to try out for the prestigious Santa Barbara Soccer Club.
At the tryout, the Santa Barbara coaches quickly recognized Andoyan as a future goal-scoring menace. He was offered a spot on the squad.
“My mom was like, ‘Well we could try to make this work,’” Andoyan remembered. “We had to commute two to three times a week and we were playing every weekend. My mom was like, ‘I don’t know how long we can do this for.’”
What was planned as a temporary commitment turned into a six-year stint playing for one of the most successful youth soccer teams in the nation. Andoyan won two national championships and four state cups in his time on the team.
“That was, like, my prime,” he said. “That club team, we’re all really good players and we’re all going to play college soccer.”
Andoyan is headed to Notre Dame de Namur next year, a Division II school on the San Francisco Peninsula. He bypassed interest from Division I schools like Santa Clara and San Jose State to choose Notre Dame, where he felt more comfortable.
“Division I soccer is very competitive and cutthroat,” Andoyan said. “At Notre Dame, the coach was very nice and seemed caring. I was like, ‘This is awesome. I really like this school and the environment and would love to go here.’”
In his years playing for the Orcutt Academy soccer team, Andoyan was the team’s leading goal scorer and was voted all-league twice.
“I play center forward, so my main thing is just turn, go at somebody, and try to score,” Andoyan said. “That was a good high school team because I grew up with a lot of my teammates. A lot of them went to elementary school with me and junior high.”
Andoyan has ambitions to play professional soccer someday. He derives inspiration from a conversation he had a couple years ago with the head coach of the San Jose Earthquakes.
“He told me, ‘If it’s something that I want, and it’s something that I work for, then it’s something I can achieve,’” Andoyan said. “When I go to college, I want to sharpen my skills and then maybe get a tryout or something.”
Christian Allen (baseball, Cal Lutheran)
Entering into his freshman season playing baseball at Orcutt Academy, Christian Allen was faced with an easy choice.
“Growing up, I played outfield and first base. When I got to high school, and the coaches said, ‘Well, you can either sit on the bench, or you can start and play catcher,’” he said.
Catcher it was. Having never played that position before, Allen had some serious catching up to do. He spent countless hours practicing his technique. He pushed his way through the learning curve, and when he made mistakes, he’d would work tirelessly on fixing them.
By his junior year, Allen wasn’t just surviving as a catcher, he was excelling. Always striving for improvement and to challenge himself, Allen joined the prestigious Trosky Baseball club last year where he immersed himself in top-class competition he hadn’t experienced before.
“All these kids were going to Stanford and other major Division I schools,” Allen said. “It’s really different coming from a small town, and then going and playing with guys like that. It definitely makes you step your game up.”
Allen’s ambition paid off. A few months ago, he started receiving attention and even offers from Division III college coaches. After a period of courting different schools, Allen landed on Cal Lutheran.
“I think at Cal Lutheran, where they’re an established program, the coaches there are going to push me and get the best out of me,” Allen said. “I’m excited to go from a small town into that kind of atmosphere where I can only get better.”
Allen reflects fondly on his time playing for Orcutt Academy. Even though the team didn’t win many games, the program saw improvement every year.
“This year, we came out and beat Cabrillo twice—that was a first in school history,” he said. “We beat teams like Santa Maria, Nipomo, and Templeton. We haven’t won a lot of games this year, but from years past, we did a lot better this year.”
Maddie Callis (swimming, Occidental College)
For Maddie Callis, choosing colleges was first and foremost about academics.
Despite being a swimmer since the age of 5 and qualifying for CIFs in all four years swimming at Orcutt Academy, Callis stayed focused on favoring a school for its academic caliber before considering the idea of swimming there.
As it turned out, Callis got the best of both worlds. She will attend Occidental College in the fall and compete on the swim team.
“Originally, I was considering going to a larger school,” Callis told the Sun. “But when I visited Occidental, I just fell in love with it. Everything about it was just perfect. I felt like I was at home there.
“Then I found out that I was able to swim there,” she continued. “I emailed the coach and met with him on my visits. The program seemed like it’d be a great fit for me.”
Callis has good memories from her Orcutt Academy career, where the team finished second in CIF twice—with the current season still in progress.
“It’s been an amazing experience with high school swimming,” she said. “You have more opportunities to race, and I feel like I got my best times while at the high school meets because it’s more competitive.”
Callis expressed gratitude toward her parents for their support in her journey.
“They have been so supportive of me,” she said. “They’ve been driving me to every practice and helping me with everything. They’ve just been the best.”
Contributor Peter Johnson can be reached at pjohnson@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in May 12-19, 2016.
