Athlete of the Week Articles

This Pioneer Valley High School basketball player leads her team in more than just points. Ravynn Anielski, a junior, has played varsity every year of her high school basketball career, and averages about 19 points a game, according to coach Ashley Sandoval. Anielski has scored a whopping total of 441 points so far this season. […]

St. Joseph High School senior Kainoa Keuma has made leaps and bounds since his first year with the school’s boys’ basketball team—and it shows.     The numbers don’t lie: The point guard averages about 14.5 points a game, according to head coach Tom Mott. He makes more than 40 percent of his shots from the […]

Santa Maria High School’s boys’ soccer program is all about discipline and responsibility, and forward-midfielder Jonathan Santos has been the picture of both of those virtues this season.     As one of the team’s captains this year, Santos is saddled with the responsibilities that come with acting as a role model and pushing his team […]

She may be young, but 7-year-old Zoe De La Cruz is already showing a lot of promise in the world of gymnastics.  It’s only her third year training at KT’s All-Star Gymnastics, but De La Cruz already appears to have everything it takes to one day become a gold medal level athlete: talent, a hard […]

Allan Hancock College sophomore Trenton Mitchell has been a force for his school’s flourishing basketball program this season.  Towering over the competition at 6 feet 6 inches, Mitchell has proven himself as both a consistent rebounder and scorer, averaging about eight rebounds and seven points a game, according to Anthony Cooper, Hancock’s sports information specialist. […]

Last season, Pioneer Valley High School student Eric Vera took seventh in the California Interscholastic Federation State Wrestling Championship. This year, Vera’s coach said he has a good chance of fighting his way up to the very top.  Vera, now a junior at Pioneer Valley, is remarkably coachable, according to coach Kent Olson. The 160-pound […]

It was quite the season for Tommie Kunst Junior High School’s seventh grade boys’ basketball team, which won the school its first ever boys league championship title on Dec. 13.  It had been a long time coming, according to coach Kevin Smith, who said the girls’ basketball teams have won a few championships since the […]

Santa Ynez Valley Union High School junior Malia Loos appears to be unstoppable, on and off the court. It’s her third year on Santa Ynez’s varsity basketball team, where she now holds the school record for most three-pointers made in a single game, according to coach Jason Finley. Loos is currently on pace to break […]

Before this school year, Pioneer Valley High School student Charolette Ionata had never played a game of soccer in her life. Now she’s the varsity team’s starting goalie, and she’s making huge strides.  Ionata, a senior, is an athlete by nature, according to coach Bilena Brafman, who said Ionata has long played volleyball and water […]

He may be just 7 years old, but Dominic Marshall can already kick through a slab of wood a few inches thick. It’s a feat that could seem almost impossible to most, but for kids like Marshall, who trains for about three hours a week at Rising Sun Martial Arts Academy, breaking barriers is all […]

Ernest Righetti High School junior Karli Huguenard is more than just an outstanding cowgirl, she’s a mentor to other students hoping to show animals or compete in rodeos. Huguenard, a member of Righetti’s Rodeo Club, is also a part of the school’s Warrior Goat Group, a program designed to help kids with special needs and […]