From boxing to water polo, the Santa Barbara area is going to be well represented at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Fourteen athletes and one coach will be going for the gold. The coach, in fact, is seeking a fourth gold medal, while one athlete is after a second-straight Olympic championship.
The list of athletes includes one who is California born and is competing for the country of his family’s heritage, another who is from Europe and played at Westmont College, two whose families have local roots and a pair who came to Santa Barbara from Florida to raise their game in beach volleyball.
Here is a capsule look at our community’s Olympians:
Karch Kiraly, head coach USA Women’s Volleyball Team: Karch is this country’s most decorated volleyball Olympian. The Santa Barbara High alum won three gold medals as a player — two with the men’s national indoor team in 1984 and ’88 and the other in the inaugural beach volleyball competition in 1996 with Kent Steffes. He served as an assistant coach on the 2012 Women’s National Team that earned a silver medal at the London Olympics. The U.S. women have made history under Kiraly, winning their first-ever FIVB World Championship in 2014.
Since taking over in 2013, his team has a record 119-23. The Americans enter the Olympics ranked No. 1 in the world and host Brazil is No. 2. On the possibility of playing Brazil for the gold medal, Karch says it would great. He told the New York Times: “I much prefer playing in front of a hostile crowd than a passive one. In fact, I like playing in front of a hostile, energetic crowd more than a home crowd.” Competition Dates: Aug. 6, Puerto Rico; Aug. 8, Netherlands; Aug. 10, Serbia; Aug. 12, Italy; Aug. 14, China.
Kami Craig, USA Women’s Water Polo Team: The Santa Barbara High alum is playing in her third Olympics. She was the starting center on the 2012 squad in London that won the first gold medal in program history and has a silver medal from 2008. Coach Adam Krikorian calls Craig “the best center in the world.” Competition dates: Aug 9, Spain; Aug. 11, China; Aug. 13 Hungary.
Kiley Neushul, USA Women’s Water Polo Team: The Dos Pueblos alum is been on the national team radar since she was playing in the Junior Olympics as a kid. Kiley was born into a water polo family: her father, Peter, was a two-time All-American for UCSB, and her mom, Cathy, was an All-American club player before the women’s team went intercollegiate. She is highly successful youth coach with the Santa Barbara 805 Water Polo Club. Kiley has won major championships at every level. She is competing in her first Olympics.
Sami Hill, USA Women’s Water Polo Team: A club and high school teammate of Neushul, Sami plays goalie for the No. 1 team in the world. She, too, is making her Olympics debut. Coach Krikorian said “Sami has won a lot of big games for us.” Sami comes from an athletic family, her mother, Cindy, was a star basketball player at San Marcos High and BYU, and her father, Pe’a, was a football lineman at Fresno State. Sami takes pride in being the last line of defense. “Defense is my thing,” she said.
Carlos Balderas, USA Boxing Team, lightweight division (132 pounds): The 19-year-old Santa Maria resident was the first member of the U.S. team to qualify for the Olympics after winning a series of matches in 2015. Balderas has said in interviews that boxing saved his life. After constantly getting into trouble at school for fighting, his father put him into boxing. “It takes up a lot of your time,” Balderas told USA Today. “You wake up early in the morning, you train, you go home, you rest, you eat, you go back to the gym. You really don’t have time to be out in the streets or be out doing other stuff.” Competition Dates: Aug. 6, first bout.
Barbara Nwaba, USA Track & Field Team: The 2012 UCSB grad and Santa Barbara Track Club member is the U.S. team’s No. 1 heptathlete. She won the Olympic Trials and her second straight USATF National Championship. She enters the seven-event heptathlon ranked sixth in the world behind Canada’s Brianne Theisen-Eaton, Jessica Ennis-Hill of Great Britan, Anouk Vetter of Netherlands, Laura Ikauniece-Admidina of Latvia and Carolin Schafer of Germay. She has competed against all of them in international competitions. Competition Dates: Aug. 12-13.
Nick Scarvelis, Greece Track & Field Team: The former CIF State shot put champion from Dos Pueblos, who just completed his collegiate career at UCLA, was contacted by the Greek Olympic Team about competing for it in Rio. He was eligible because Greece is the native country of his grandparents. He became a citizen and topped the Olympic qualifying standard of 67 feet, 3 inches with a personal-best of 67-7.50 at the Triton Invitational in May in San Diego. Competition Date: Aug. 18.
Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena, USA Men’s Beach Volleyball: Phil and Nick reunited their partnership after 11 years and qualified for the Olympics with an impressive run on the international FIVB Tour. This year, they won four tournaments, finished second twice, have one third-place finish and two fifths. After knocking the ball around in Florida (Phil went to University of Central Florida and Nick attended Florida State), the pair to come out to Santa Barbara and train with Santa Barbara’s Todd Rogers, Dax Holdren and other standouts on the AVP Tour.
They won their first tournament together that year in Austin, Texas and finished second at the prestigious Manhattan Beach Open. In 2006, Phil accepted Rogers’ invitation to join him as a partner and they became one of the all-time great teams in the sport, winning a world championship in 2007, an Olympic gold medal in 2008 and numerous international and domestic tour events. Lucena, meanwhile, was still having success and making a living playing pro beach volleyball with different partners. He won three AVP events and was runner-up 15 times. Competition Dates: Aug. 7, Tunisia; Aug. 9, Mexico; Aug. 11, Italy.
Maggie Hogan, USA Canoe/Kayak Team: The former UCSB long-distance freestyle swimmer turned to competitive kayaking in 2005. She missed the 2008 and 2012 Olympics but made a breakthrough in 2014 by finishing third at the World Championships, making her the first U.S. competitor to stand on the podium in 20 years and the first woman to medal. She won the U.S. Olympic Trials and secured a berth on the Olympic team by finishing second at the Pan American Games.
“Crossing the line, knowing that I won the berth was the biggest weight off my shoulders,” the 37 year old said. “When I got to the dock, my mom was there, my coach was there, and I got to share it with my dad. It was one of the best moments of my life for sure.” Maggie is competing in the 200-meter and 500-meter single kayak events. Competition Dates: Aug. 15, Aug. 17.
Josh Prenot, USA Swimming Team: Josh swam for the Santa Maria Swim before moving on to Cal. He’ll be swimming the 200 breaststroke in Rio after setting the American record (2:07.17) at the Olympic Trials. Known for his versatility, Josh won the NCAA Championship in the 400 individual medley and was runner-up in the 200 breast and 200 IM. Competition Date: Aug. 9.
Tugce Canitez, Turkey Women’s Basketball Team: This is the second Olympic Games for Canitez, who led Westmont to the 2013 NAIA National Championship. She played for Turkey at the London Games between her junior and senior years. Since graduating from Westmont, Canitez has played professionally in her home country for the club Fenerbahce, a perennial power in the Turkish League. Turkey has been assigned to Group A at 2016 Olympics along with France, Australia, Japan, Belarus and the home country, Brazil. Competition Dates: Aug. 6, France; Aug. 9, Australia; Aug. 11, Belarus; Aug. 13, Brazil.
Ben Hallock, USA Men’s Water Polo Team: Ben is named after his uncle, Ben Hallock, the long-time football coach at Carpinteria High. He is the son of former Santa Ynez High and USC football standout Tom Hallock, the younger brother of coach Hallock. Young Ben just graduated from Harvard Westlake High and is headed to Stanford after the Olympics. At 6-6, 245 pounds, Ben plays the demanding position of center. He led Harvard Westlake to three straight CIF Division 1 finals and two titles. Competition Dates: Aug. 6, Croatia; Aug. 8, Spain; Aug. 10, France; Aug. 12, Montenegro; Aug. 14, Italy.
Vashti Cunningham, USA Track & Field Team: The last name should pique interest for Santa Barbarans. Vashti is the daughter of Randall Cunningham, who tore it in football and track & field at Santa Barbara High before going on to fame as a NFL quarterback. Vashti is a world-class high jumper at the age of 18. She cleared 6-5 ½ to finish second at the Olympic Trials in July. In March, she won the USA Indoor Championships with a leap of 6-6 ¼, which set a World Junior record.
The following week, she won the IAAF World Indoor Championships with a mark of 6-5. “Can she be the world record holder? I think she can be,” two-time Olympic high jump bronze medalist Dwight Stones said in an ESPNW feature story on Vashti. “I think the potential is there.” Competition Date: Aug. 18.
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.