It was a week for runners at the Northern Santa Barbara County Athletic Roundtable luncheon held Monday at Giavanni's Pizza in Orcutt.

Both the male and the female Athletes of the Week - Cabrillo High's Levi Block and Santa Ynez High's Kelly Mayer - were very successful at the prestigious Mt. SAC Invitational in Walnut over the weekend.

Cabrillo's Block has been the number one runner for the leaders of the Los Padres League and he ran an excellent time of 16:55 to finish fourth in the Boys Division III. With the high finish, Block helped his team come in second place overall.

“I'd like to thank my team and my co-captain right over here and my coach Mr. Anderson who couldn't be here today,” Block said about his teammate Eddie Tovar, who was present and his coach Peter Anderson, who could not attend.

Santa Ynez's Mayer - running at the same event - was 10th in the Division IV-V race, helping the Pirates finish in fifth. Mayer also thanked her coaches and teammates.

Cabrillo

Cabrillo girls cross country coach Katy Wallace presented Jamie Peterson and Devon Bedell. The Conquistadores younger teams did well at the Mt. SAC race, with the junior varsity and freshmen finishing seventh and the sophomores fifth.

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Wallace also mentioned the boys team that was second overall with Block in fourth place and Tovar in 10th.

Football coach Craig Knowles liked the way his team responded in the second half of the Conqs' win over Nipomo after trailing 13-7 at the break.

“We came out fired up in the second half and ended up winning 23-13,” Knowles said.

He introduced two outstanding players who play on both sides of the ball - and are also team captains - running back/cornerback Brandon Whittaker and fullback/middle linebacker Matt Rotondi.

Athletic director Bob Lawrence was also present at the luncheon.

Lompoc

Athletic director Jesse Davis brought two football players from the Braves squad, Nick Brundy and Saul Domingues.

Brundy caught a fourth quarter touchdown and a two-point conversion that brought the Braves back into the game, before they fell 16-8 to Arroyo Grande, while Dominques continued to be a force on the line of scrimmage.

“I wish we could clone him,” Davis said about Dominguez. “He has done a super job.”

Davis presented Kaylin Barnes and Kimberly Maynes from the cross country team. The girls wanted Davis to complement their coach Rich Zellars for the great job he has done.

Pioneer Valley

Cross country coach Teresa Cavaletto said the girls squad was doing well with steady improvement in the PAC-7, even with several injuries slowing them down. The boys team placed second in the midseason race and are led by the two runners Cavaletto introduced - junior Juan Sanchez and senior Raul Ojeda.

“Between the two of them and our other top boys, they really stepped it up and did a good job,” Cavaletto said.

About a very close loss to St. Joseph, football coach Greg Dickinson said, “If you were a spectator you got your money's worth.”

He lamented turnovers, which were the difference in the game.

“We made a few more and they capitalized and that's what a good team does,” Dickinson said.

Dickinson presented two players who have had outstanding seasons so far, junior lineman Noe Contreras and senior cornerback Jesse Ibarra.

Jim Doyle, the Panthers athletic director was present as well.

Righetti

Football coach Gary Wilson did not bring any players to the luncheon because the captains had called a players-only meeting.

He echoed Dickinson talking about turnovers as the Warriors committed four in their loss to Paso Robles.

“Against a quality team like Paso, it's hard to overcome that,” Wilson explained.

Wilson said that starting with San Luis Obispo this week, the Warriors have three winnable games and if they can win they will make the CIF playoffs.

A.D. Eric Albright was present but did not speak.

St. Joseph

Athletic director John Osborne stood in for football coach Mike Hartman who was attending a St. Joseph golf fund raiser.

He introduced junior defensive back/special teams player Jacob Rivera, junior offensive lineman Keith Bendixen and junior linebacker Taylor Sanders.

Santa Maria

Athletic director Ralph Baldiviez talked about the injury bug that has plagued the Saints football team.

Baldiviez introduced three runners from the boys cross country team - senior Benito Camarillo, who has run varsity all four of his years, sophomore Gabino Suarez, who has run both years and junior Israel Ruvalcaba, the team's number one runner.

“At the mid-season meet last week, our J.V. finished a real strong second to Cabrillo,” Baldiviez said, “and our varsity team finished third just a few points behind Morro Bay.”

Santa Ynez

Co-head football coach Brian Wallace presented Mayer, the cross country team captain before moving on to his football team. He said the girls team was third in the Los Padres League and the boys were fifth.

Wallace introduced three players from the Pirates football team. Andrew Fayram plays defensive tackle and offensive guard, “He's been a good solid player all year long,” Ryan Anderson is a standout on special teams, “he's been rock solid - doesn't miss practice - doesn't miss games,” and junior Tom Pena, “He broke into the starting lineup a couple weeks a go and I don't think he will be giving it back.”

Valley Christian

Athletic director Pete Fortier said his team had a good week of practice and the weather for Saturday afternoon's game was nice. His Lions also recovered two interceptions and blocked a punt in a loss to the top ranked team in the league.

“I always try to come up with positive things,” he said. “On the negative side a player got hurt before the game and that last punt we blocked one of their guys picked it up and ran in for a touchdown.”

Fortier presented senior Alfredo Paniagua, who injured his ACL and junior Clay Martinez, who blocked the punt.

Ending with a prediction Fortier said, “We are going to work harder this week and we are going to beat Shandon at homecoming at 1 p.m.”

Allan Hancock College

Cross country coach Louie Quintana talked about the Western State Conference finals that will be hosted at Waller Park this afternoon by Hancock. He did not bring any runners to the luncheon as the Bulldogs had a bye week.

Football coach Kris Dutra talked about his team's 40-22 victory over Moorpark on Saturday and introduced freshman tailback Telvin McMillian.

“Telvin is from Silverado High School in Las Vegas and we are looking forward to getting him back next year,” Dutra said. “I think he will be a real solid player for us.”

Dutra explained his team had their playoff fate in their own hands with two games to play. They play at Glendale this Saturday.

Sports writer Brad Memberto can be reached at 737-1055 or by e-mail to bmemberto@lompocrecord.com

October 28, 2008