Athlete of the Week Articles

Santa Maria High School’s starting quarterback Sebastian Saiz has a challenging football season ahead of him.  The 17-year-old senior is following in the immediate footsteps of last year’s All-Area MVP, and he’s working with a young, inexperienced team. But head football coach Dan Ellington said Saiz is determined to make this football season a good […]

Up-and-coming taekwondo stars Bruce and Henry Newby are taking over the local martial arts scene. For these boys, taekwondo is more than just a sport–it’s a family affair. Their father, Cort Newby, has been practicing taekwondo since the ’90s, and the brothers train tirelessly with him at their family-owned gym, Santa Maria Taekwondo Academy.  The […]

She’s not the first in her family to love horses, but incoming Santa Ynez High School sophomore Elizabeth Enderle shows them like no one else can.  Elizabeth, 15, has been riding horses since she was a child, but started competitively showing only about three years ago, according to her mom, Kerry Enderle. And she’s already […]

On the baseball diamond, 12-year-old Adrian Santini is a triple threat–he can pitch better, hit harder, and run faster than just about anyone his age.  Santini, an Orcutt Junior High School student, has been an integral member on each of his Little League teams since he was just 7 years old. But recently, he’s been […]

    Allan Hancock College track and field star Haleigh Batty is a record-breaker.     During her freshman year at Hancock, she set new records in both the women’s long and high jumps. And after taking first place in seven of her first eight meets of the season, Batty won a Western State Conference long jump […]

After beating out teams from across the nation in the 2018 Special Olympics USA Games, the Lompoc High School Unified Basketball team took home bronze medals on July 6.  More than 4,000 participants representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia competed in 14 team and individual sports at the tournament, which Seattle hosted […]

Although Orcutt American Little League player Carson Gooley is truly versatile on defense, head coach Jim Stollberg said his exceptional infield game is unmatched by any local athletes his age. “Carson was our most electric player and his positive attitude made his teammates play better every day,” Stollberg told the Sun.  Gooley, who recently wrapped […]

The Central Coast Competitive Cheer team may be new to the game, but its members are ready to be aggressive, B-E aggressive.  Experienced coaches Kira Farrell and Candace Robertson-Farrell cheered at Cal Poly and Robertson studied dance at Allan Hancock College–have their sights set on a national championship. But Farrell and Robertson said the cheer […]

After months of intensive practice, the Orcutt National Brewers put their skills to good use on the baseball diamond not once, not twice, but three times this season, taking home three little league championship titles.  The Brewers–self-titled the Brew Crew–ended their season with 18 wins, three losses, and one tie game.  “I’m just really proud […]

Just two weeks after earning an associate degree, former Allan Hancock College baseball player Quinntin Perez signed a letter of intent to continue his college career at the University of South Carolina. Perez chose South Carolina, which has one of the best Division I baseball programs in the nation, over offers from multiple other schools, […]

More than 30 local law enforcement officials recently participated in the last leg of the Law Enforcement Torch Run, an annual event that kicks off the Special Olympics Southern California Summer Games.  Santa Maria City Park Rangers ran alongside officers from the Santa Maria and Guadalupe police departments, Santa Barbara County Probation, and the Department […]

Athletes running in the Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run, an 11,000-mile torch relay aimed at promoting world peace, passed through Santa Maria early on May 30. The 12 runners from seven countries covered 91 miles that day, according to media coordinator Prakhara Harter. The athletes ran along Highway 1 from Santa Maria to Paso Robles, […]