Athlete of the Week Articles

Ernest Righetti High School student Issaya Finley fought his way to the top of his weight class at the 2018 California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section Masters Wrestling Championship on Feb. 23 and 24. There, the local high school senior outmaneuvered hundreds of wrestlers from more than 300 schools and took home a first place medal, […]

Although Pioneer Valley High School senior Elias Zepeda isn’t sure what he wants to do after graduation, he knows one thing: He wants to keep wrestling. “Hopefully I’ll find a good college to wrestle at,” Zepeda, 18, told the Sun. “I just like that it’s a very tough sport, and I like the feeling of […]

Although Allan Hancock College student Spirit Ricks is only a freshman, he’s already captain of the Hancock men’s basketball team and averages double digits in both rebounds and points each game. “He’s more than a great player,” head coach Tyson Aye said in an interview with the Sun. “He’s a great player and a great […]

Allan Hancock College sophomore Meagan Stevens learned to surf at a young age. As a Lompoc native, the ocean was always nearby, and competitive swimming, she said, only seemed a natural progression. “I liked being in the water,” Stevens said. Stevens, 20, is now one of Hancock’s top swimmers, according to Women’s Swimming and Diving […]

Valley Christian Academy high school junior Shy Kendrick is the leading scorer on the girls’ varsity basketball team, according to head coach Randy Stanford, with an average of 12.5 points a game. As point guard, Kendrick also averages 8.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 4.2 blocked shots each game, Stanford said. Kendrick has been selected as […]

It’s Santa Maria High School senior Clark Kringel’s third year on the boys’ varsity basketball team, and as a captain, he’s helped lead the team to a second place ranking so far this season. “He’s an extremely hard worker,” coach David Yamate said, “on the court and in the classroom as well.” Kringle, a shooting […]

Santa Ynez Valley High School’s Annie Ackert has veteran-level water polo experience despite her young years—and despite only picking up the sport as a freshman. As a sophomore, the now-junior utility player put in two goals in the 2017 CIF Southern Section Division 7 championship game, helping lead the Pirates to their first-ever title. The […]

Allan Hancock College men’s basketball head coach Tyson Aye said that it was “perfect timing” for Devin Davis to be the Sun’s Athlete of the Week. The team had just come back from a win at an all-tournament game on Jan. 7, and Davis definitely delivered against Pasadena City College (game pictured). Davis, a sophomore […]

St. Joseph High School senior Elihu Cobb says he could hang on the rim since he started playing basketball in sixth grade. By seventh grade, he could dunk at ease. “I’ve always been the tallest guy on my team—tall and lanky,” Cobb said. Now some six years later, the Knights’ 6-foot-7-inch center can be seen […]

Danielle Morgan is the lone senior on the Lompoc High School basketball team this season. Luckily for the Braves, she’s also one of the top ballers on the Central Coast. The 5-foot-10 small forward is averaging an eye-popping 20 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, 2.3 steals, and 1.7 blocks per game in the early going, […]

Pioneer Valley High School senior Rigoberto Maldonado is a man of few words. He lets his play on the soccer field do the talking. The soft-spoken striker has compiled five goals during the Panthers’ blazing-hot 4-1 start to the winter season, including a two-goal effort on Dec. 8 against crosstown rival Santa Maria High School […]

Righetti High School senior Zane Sheckherd, and the rest of the Warriors girls’ basketball team, got all geared up for their first games of the 2017-18 season on Dec. 8 for a preseason tournament in San Marcos. But then the Southern California wildfires broke out, and plans changed. “It got canceled,” Sheckherd told the Sun. […]