Posted: Tuesday, October 4, 2005 12:00 am
Both Athlete of the Week Awards were sent to their appropriate destinations at Monday/s North Santa Barbara County Round Table at Giavanni/s in Orcutt7 to the Lompoc Valley.
Vai Taua, the marquee back of No. 1-ranked Cabrillo, was awarded the male AOW award.
Taua rushed for 212 yards and three touchdowns as the 4-0 Conquistadores opened Los Padres League play with a 33-8 cruise past Santa Ynez.
In addition, Taua played defensive end and is a member of virtually all CHS special teams.
"He rarely leaves the field," said Conquistadores coach Don Cross. "It/s not like he plays offense and stands around on the sidelines drinking water."
In his thank you speech, Taua made a point of thanking his line, two members of which, guard Josh Sanders and tackle Jake Farley, were seated nearby.
Sanders, like Taua, goes both ways.
"We do lots of conditioning," Sanders said. "We may be sucking in a little air but not much."
Sanders added that this year/s Conquistadores team is even more tightly-knit than the 2004 team.
"Last year we were close as a family. This year we/re even closer," he said.
"You can break one pencil but you can/t break a whole group of pencils at the same time."
His figure of speech was not an original.
"I stole your lines," Sanders grinned to Taua, who did not seem to mind.
"At Santa Ynez we got a /dub-ya,/" said football coach Don Cross with no apparent reference to the President. "We rushed for 300-plus yards, so the linemen are doing something right."
On defense the Conqs have now totalled 15 sacks in two games, Cross pointed out.
Lompoc High
The Female Athlete of the Week Award was shared by golfers Justine and Julia Heath of Lompoc High, known to those within earshot of LHS Athletic Director Dick Barrett as "The Fabulous Heath Sisters."
Barrett not only thumps a tub for the Heaths, yesterday he even overturned a pizza pan to a resounding thwong on their behalf amidst the applause.
Justine Heath was medalist at even-par 36 last Monday at Rancho Maria Golf Course despite a one-stroke Braves loss to St. Joseph, then tied her sister as co-medalist on Thursday at the first weekly league tournament at La Purisima.
The Heaths/ reaction to being "fabulous?" "We just laugh," said Julia.
In addition to the fabHeaths, Barrett introduced volleyball opposite hitter Katelyn Lynch, plus noseguard Mike Linstead and back Sam Ruiz of the football team.
When asked why she plays volleyball, especially when the LHS team rarely wins, Lynch addressed a topic seldom discussed in youth athletic circles7 burnout.
"It/s fun," she said. "It/s not a sport I/ve been playing my whole life so I/m not sick of it."
Lynch said she began playing softball, her other sport, at the age of five.
Linstead led the Braves gridders in defensive statistics while Ruiz was named player of the game as the Braves crunched Nipomo 52-0.
Linstead said he welcomed his move from linebacker to noseguard.
"I was happy. That/s where I played as a sophomore. It/s more enjoyable because there/s less to worry about."
Ryan Church
Now that the season is over we can assess how well our Ryan Church did. He was being talked about as a Rookie of the Year candidate at midseason, then disappeared from the Washington National lineup in favor of veteran Preston Wilson.
Let/s look at five offensive categories.
Batting average7 Church .287, Wilson .260
On base percentage7 Church .353, Wilson .325
Slugging percentage7 Wilson .467, Church .466
Wilson hit 22 home runs, Church only nine, but Wilson had double the at-bats (520 to 268)
So did Frank Robinson make the right call to dump Church on the bench? Churchie received far less money and played far better defense. You make the call.
College grid
Andrew Jones received his first starting assignment Saturday at quarterback for Upper Iowa and did not do badly. The Peacocks lost 13-7 to St. Joseph/s but Jonesy was the team/s only offense. In 37 rushing attempts, UIU runners totalled only 123 yards. Jones meanwhile completed 12 of 26 passes for 155 yards. Unfortunately, he had one picked off and run back for the gamewinning touchdown.
Lydell Sargeant saw action Saturday as Penn State upset Minnesota 44-14 but had no receptions. Vic Thompson made one catch for Air Force despite the Falcon loss to Colorado State. Robert Adams, one week after being named Big South Offensive Player of the Week, carried the ball at Charleston Southern only one time.
College water polo
In water polo, at surging Pepperdine (which beat national champ USC) Mike Lee played goalie for the entire game against Whittier College Saturday as the Waves won 17-13. Lee racked up seven blocks, 3 steals and an assist.
At Cuesta College, Davia Montoya ranks No. 2 on the team in goals (26) and Christine Rowlett No. 3 (19). Rowlett ranks second in assists with 14 and in steals with 26.
College soccer
Katie McIntosh scored her second goal of the season as Chico State clobbered Monterey Bay State 4-0 Sunday.
Sports Writer John McReynolds can be reached at 736-2313, Ext. 106, or jmcreynolds@lompocrecord.com
October 4, 2005