Both of this week’s Athletes of the Week came from the pool, as San Marcos’ Taylor Steelman and Carpinteria’s Jackson Melton shined at their league championship meets.
Steelman and Melton were celebrated at Monday’s Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Press Luncheon at Harry’s Plaza Cafe.
At the Channel League championship meet, Steelman placed first in the 100 backstroke and the 500 freestyle. Her time in the 500 freestyle was the second-fastest mark in school history.
She followed up her individual dominance by swimming a leg on the first-place 200 medley relay team that also set a new program record.
Melton had a historic league championship of his own, as he broke his own school record in the 200 freestyle twice (1:47.62) and snapped his own record in the 100 breaststroke (1:00.6).
He also carried over that success into the relays, setting a new school record with his individual split in the 4×100 freestyle race (48.49).
The girls honorable mentions are Kendall Keshen (Laguna Blanca Swim), Tierney Clark (Bishop Diego Swim), Anastasia Brunner (Dos Pueblos Softball), Maia Holmes (Cate Lacrosse), Averi Alexander (Carpinteria Track & Field) and Francesca Sutch (Cate Track & Field.)
Meanwhile, the boys honorable mentions are Liam Kiethley (Santa Barbara Baseball), Jesse Di Maggio (Dos Pueblos Baseball), Raglan Kear (Santa Barbara Volleyball), Tyson Deveze (Laguna Blanca Volleyball), Teddy Vigna (Dos Pueblos Golf) and Jed Greenwald (San Marcos Tennis).
The Athlete of the Week award winners are selected by the local sports media. Coaches are encouraged to nominate deserving athletes. Nominations should be sent to sports@noozhawk.com by Saturday morning, if possible.
The award is sponsored by the law firm of Maho-Prentice.