Santa Barbara High held a signing ceremony Wednesday for seven senior student athletes who are moving on to the next level.
The student athletes are Henry Hancock (volleyball, UCSB), Sawyer Rhodes (water polo, Stanford), Adam Gross (water polo, Pomona Pitzer), Jack Rottman (water polo, Santa Clara), Antonio Andrade (baseball, Occidental), Kiasa Salgado (track, UC San Diego) and Kai McGeoy (girls water polo, Princeton).
Rhodes becomes the third water polo player of coach Mark Walsh to attend Stanford and the first in 15 years. He leaves Santa Barbara as the program’s all-time leading goal scorer with 370 goals. He scored 147 goals in 26 games for the Dons during his senior season and was named the Channel League MVP and All-CIF Division 1.
Gross was the Dons’ playmaker in the pool. He dished out 84 assists during his senior season and program best 244 in his career. Rottman was the second leading scorer for the Channel League champions. Both players were All Channel League.
McGeoy, a standout defender for Santa Barbara, earned All-Channel League and third-team All-CIF Division 1 honors. Of the several Santa Barbara High girls water polo players over the years who have played in college, she is the first to attend Princeton.
Andrade, the catcher for the Dons’ baseball team, is one of the team’s top hitters with a .364 average. He has four doubles and three stolen bases. Defensively, he carries an impressive average of .970.
Salgado, headed to Division 1 UC San Diego, is a standout in the 300-meter hurdles. He has a season best of 39.58 and a PR of 39.33.
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.