Water Polo tops SBCC's 'Great 8' in 2019-20

Here are the Top 8 SBCC athletic highlights for the 2019-20 season. The 10 spring sports teams had their seasons cut short on March 12, when the CCCAA postponed all sports due to the Coronavirus Pandemic and later cancelled all spring sports and state championships.

8. Women's Basketball: The Vaqueros went 15-9 and had to beat Hancock 81-75 in the regular-season finale to make the Southern Cal Regional playoffs for the first time in seven years. They endured a 35-day layoff without a game from Dec. 20 to Jan. 25, then hosted a Regional playoff game for the first time in 10 years. Alondra Jimenez, Sophia Torres and Jordan Parkhurst were named to the first-team All-WSC North squad.

7. Men's Track & Field: Giulio Giordani cleared 4.57 meters (15-0) for the first time in the pole vault and won the Wildcat Cup on March 6 at Cuesta. The sophomore from Santa Ynez High made SBCC's all-time list in the No. 5 position.

6. Baseball: Leadoff hitter Ryan Guardino, a sophomore from San Marcos High, hit .415 in 18 games for the Vaqueros (12-8, 4-3). He hit safely in all 18 games and had a homer and double in SBCC's last game on March 9. He was sixth in the state with 14 stolen bases in 15 attempts.

5. Women's Golf: Pratima Sherpa of Nepal placed fourth in the state and was the low freshman scorer with two rounds of 74 at Morro Bay GC on Nov. 17-18. The Vaqueros finished second in the WSC (40-10) and 7th in the state.

4. Men's Volleyball: The fourth-ranked Vaqueros were off to best start in at least 13 years, winning eight straight matches for records of 8-2 and 4-0 in WSC. They had 22 aces in their last victory (3-0 over Antelope Valley on March 11) with Aaron Letvin delivering seven. The Vaqueros knocked off No. 1 Orange Coast and No. 2 El Camino 3-2 on Feb. 28. They were slated to host No. 1 Long Beach on March 13, one day before the season was cancelled by the Coronavirus Pandemic.

3. Women's Tennis: Led by Kelly Coulson, Maura Mannix and the Buyse sisters (Jamaica and Joica) from Belgium, the Vaqueros won 12 straight games after dropping the season opener to Riverside, 5-4. They posted six 9-0 sweeps and 10 of their 12 wins were either 9-0 or 8-1. They were off to a 12-1 start and a perfect 8-0 in the WSC. They've won 23 straight WSC matches, dating back to 2018. Coach Christina Klein is 43-10 in three seasons.

2. Women's Soccer: Won their third straight WSC title with a 9-1-2 record and tied for fifth in the state, losing to Santiago Canyon in the So Cal Regional final for the second straight year. Sophomore forward Mekaylla White notched four hat tricks in her last eight regular-season games and earned WSC Offensive MVP honors. She led the WSC North and was 13th in the state with 19 goals in 22 games.

1. Women's Water Polo: Taylor Brooks rewrote the record book, breaking SBCC's school record and topping California with 134 goals in 35 games (3.8 avg.). The Vaqueros went 30-5 for the second straight year and finished third in Southern Cal, barely missing their fourth straight trip to the CCCAA state tournament. The five losses all came to the state finalists as the Vaqueros went 0-2 against state champ Fullerton and 1-3 vs. state runner-up Riverside, which defeated SBCC 12-7 in the So Cal semifinals. The Vaqueros won 13 of their last 15 games. They captured their sixth straight WSC title with an 8-0 record. They've won 40 straight WSC contests and they're 50-2 all-time in six seasons.