San Marcos High student athletes hit it out of the park in the classroom.
The Royals were the biggest winners in the 34th annual CIF-Southern Section, Ford Academic Awards as seven of their sports teams posted the highest grade point averages among the entries in their enrollment category.
Schools are divided into enrollment categories of 1500 and above, and 1,499 and below. San Marcos, Dos Pueblos and Santa Barbara are in the larger enrollment group.
The San Marcos championship teams are in baseball (3.6896 GPA), boys basketball (3.84), boys lacrosse (3.74), boys track & field (3.65), girls track & field (3.84), girls volleyball (3.79) and girls water polo (3.85).
The seven academic titles equals the number San Marcos won in 2015.
“I am so thrilled to see our Royals being honored for their academic accomplishments,” San Marcos Principal Kip Glazer said. “It is incredible to see how many of our teams are being honored this way. I am particularly appreciative of our coaches who encourage all our athletes to remember that they are student-athletes and support them to be good students.
“I am also thankful to our families and staff for their continued support for our athletic programs. I am so proud of our teams.”
Dos Pueblos won the academic title in boys tennis with a team GPA of 3.97.
Providence School took top honors in boys cross country for smaller schools with a GPA of 3.98.
To be considered for academic honors, teams must have a minimum of five student-athletes with a minimum of a 3.0 GPA average (4.0 scale) in the first semester or first two quarters of the 2018-19 school year. The highest team GPA in each sport by enrollment category determines the winner.
The first-place teams receive a banner to commemorate their achievement. All teams who participated and qualified receive Academic Award certificates for their student athletes.
“We are very proud to honor and recognize our Academic Awards Champions,” said CIF-SS Commissioner of Athletics Rob Wigod. “Their outstanding achievements in the classroom, while also devoting�� countless hours to their athletic�� teams, truly exemplify and represent the concept of the student-athlete at the highest level.”
Schools also nominated individuals for Student-Athlete of the Year awards. The nominees must be a senior having maintained a minimum of a 3.5 GPA over the past three years, earned a letter in at least one varsity sport and participated in other extracurricular activities (music, drama, service groups, etc.).
The winners from the area were Peter Speier (cross country, track) and Olivia Geyling (lacrosse) of Dos Pueblos; Ben Partee (football, basketball, baseball) and Ella Prentice (water polo, swimming) of San Marcos, and Alexi Hemming (tennis, soccer) and Grant Lockhart (basketball, volleyball) of Santa Ynez.
Of the 26 team sports contested in the Southern Section, San Marcos received honors in 23. Four teams finished among the top five in GPAs and 12 others were honorable mention selections.
San Marcos took second-place honors in girls swimming (3.88) and boys volleyball (3.70), finished third in girls basketball (3.787) and fourth in girls tennis (3.82).
The teams on the honorable mention list include boys cross country (3.75), girls cross country (3.63), football (3.34), boys golf (3.50), girls golf (3.71), girls lacrosse (3.59), boys soccer (3.13), girls soccer (3.715), softball (3.49), boys swimming (3.51), boys tennis (3.81) and boys water polo (3.55).
San Marcos Athletic Director Abe Jahadhmy cited the class schedule at San Marcos as a key to the academic success.
“The block schedule is also very helpful as our students can focus on fewer classes. This has really helped their GPAs,” he said.
Santa Barbara High ranked in the top five GPAs in five sports. The Dons finished second in girls track & field (3.78), girls volleyball (3.75.29) and girls water polo (3.80), fourth in girls swimming (3.80) and fifth in boys volleyball (3.648).
Dos Pueblos came in third place in girls volleyball (3.75.28) and fourth in boys golf (3.63).
Providence (3.81) was third for small schools in boys track & field.
The teams earning academic honorable mention accolades include:
Dos Pueblos: baseball (3.47), boys basketball (3.39), girls basketball (3.49), boys cross country (3.42), girls cross country (3.61), girls golf (3.70), boys lacrosse (3.32), boys soccer (3.48), girls soccer (3.67), softball (3.66), boys swimming (3.58), girls swimming (3.78), girls tennis (3.79), boys track & field (3.31), girls track & field (3.60), boys volleyball (3.63), boys water polo (3.18), girls water polo (3.66), boys wrestling (3.13), girls wrestling (3.05).
Santa Barbara: baseball (3.17), boys basketball (3.54), girls basketball (3.38), boys cross country (3.40), girls cross country (3.80), boys golf (3.35) girls golf (3.69), girls lacrosse (3.34), boys soccer (3.11), girls soccer (3.48), boys swimming (3.58), boys tennis (3.44), girls tennis (3.70), boys track & field (3.41), girls track & field (3.78), boys water polo (3.41).
Providence (enrollment 1,499-under): boys basketball (3.42), girls basketball (3.41), boys golf (3.65), girls tennis (3.82), girls track & field (3.81), girls volleyball (3.83).
Bishop Diego (1499-under): girls basketball (3.08), girls golf (3.48), girls soccer (3.39), girls tennis (3.45), girls volleyball (3.37).
Santa Ynez (1,499 under): baseball (3.28), boys basketball (3.26), girls basketball (3.26), boys cross country (3.52), girls cross country (3.70), football (3.02), boys golf (3.12), girls golf (3.48), boys soccer (3.23), girls soccer (3.48), softball (3.27), boys swimming (3.12), girls swimming (3.18), boys tennis (3.21), girls tennis (3.27), boys track & field (3.47), girls track & field (3.44), boys volleyball (3.42), girls volleyball (3.28), boys water polo (3.08), girls water polo (3.26), boys wrestling (3.12).
Cabrillo (1,499-under): boys basketball (3.16), girls basketball (3.61), girls soccer (3.54), girls volleyball (3.42), girls water polo (3.52).