Magalhaes captures first State tennis title in SBCC history

Brazilian wins 6-2, 7-6 at historic Ojai Tourney

By Dave Loveton, Sports Information

OJAI -- Bruna Magalhaes of SBCC rallied from a 6-5 second-set deficit to claim the Community College State women‘s tennis singles championship on a warm Sunday at the Ojai Tournament.

Magalhaes, the No. 1 seed, beat No. 2 Sarah Anderson of Fullerton 6-2, 7-6 (1) at historic Libbey Park. It’s the first state singles title for an SBCC tennis player. In 1982, the Vaquero team of Shannon Smith and Debbie Findeisen won a state doubles title.

“I feel very proud,” said Magalhaes, a freshman from Brazil. “I’ve been working hard to win this tournament. I’m very happy right now. Exhausted, but happy.

“I was a little nervous in the first set. I just had to put my mind with my tennis. In the second set, she knew what she had to do when she was down 5-3.”

Anderson, who went on win the State doubles title with Victoria Vo, took three straight games in the second set to take a 6-5 lead.

Magalhaes won her serve to force a tiebreaker. She dominated in the tiebreaker, taking the first three points on her way to a 7-1 victory.

“I tried to put all the balls in (during the tiebreaker) and attack her,” said Magalhaes. “If I find a university that’s offering me a scholarship, I’ll go there. But I’d love to stay at Santa Barbara City College. They helped me a lot and my coach helped me so much.”

Magalhaes built a 4-2 lead in the first set and then broke Anderson’s serve at love with two forehand winners to make it 5-2.

“I feel very fortunate to have a player like Bruna,” said coach Ken Thomas. “There’s a lot of intangibles about her. She’s got a big heart and she does everything that I can’t coach. She works hard every point, she fights and she has guts.”

Magalhaes won six matches over four days at the State Tournament to complete a perfect 19-0 season. Going into Sunday’s match, she had won 61 games against California’s best players while losing just 11.

“She hung in there mentally,” said Thomas. “She didn’t give away a lot of easy points. Her forehand looked good as always, especially on the short balls. The best thing you can do in a tiebreak is to get a lead and that’s what she did.

“This is a good day, not only for Bru and the SBCC women’s tennis program but also for the Santa Barbara City College athletic department. It was a good day, all around.“

Roth named SBCC Women's Swim coach

By Dave Loveton, SBCC Sports Information

Organizational meeting set for May 16

Brian “Chuckie” Roth has been selected as head coach of the SBCC women’s swim team, which will make its debut in the spring of 2014.

“I’ve been coaching swimming for 14 years and this is a great opportunity,” said Roth. “When I was contacted about the job, I felt like this is one of my true callings. I believe in the community college system and SBCC is a great school.”

Chuckie Roth has been
coaching swimming and
water polo for 14 years.

Roth, a former swimmer at Temple City High, Citrus College and UCSB, will continue coaching girls’ swimming and water polo at San Marcos High, which he’s been doing since 2004.

He’s also the Department Chair for Physical Education at San Marcos. Last year, he was voted Teacher of the Year for his school and received the Distinguished Educator of the Year for Santa Barbara County.

“Chuckie is a pretty phenomenal person and we’re so fortunate to have someone of his caliber in our own backyard,” said SBCC Athletic Director Ryan Byrne. “It’s pretty unique when you ask about a person and everyone you talk to says, ‘This person is amazing.’

“His references are glowing and he is of the highest caliber as a coach. As a former Educator of the Year for the entire district, he really gets the total package of what student-athletes are supposed to strive for. He’s an excellent fit for where we are going.”

An organizational meeting will be held for SBCC women’s swimming on Thursday, May 16 from 7-8 p.m. in the Sports Pavilion. It’s a chance for student-athletes and their families to learn about the swim program and also gauge the interest for women’s water polo.

“We’ve gotten a lot of responses so far and the organizational meeting will give us a chance to let any interested students know about the program,” said Byrne. “Part of the purpose for the meeting is to rally around and celebrate additional opportunities for young women in such a strong aquatics community.”

The new Vaquero team will practice at San Marcos High. SBCC will compete in the Western State Conference, which currently has eight women’s swimming programs, including Ventura and Cuesta. With the addition of SBCC and Hancock, there will 10 women’s swim teams in 2014.

SBCC recently won the Aspen Award as the nation’s No. 1 community college. Vaquero student-athletes are twice as likely s non student-athletes to be transfer-ready after two years. Nearly 33 percent of all student-athletes are on the Honor Roll with a GPA of 3.0 or higher.

Roth graduated from UCSB in 1997 with a BA in History and a minor in Exercise Health Science. In 2004, he received his Master’s Degree from Azusa Pacific in Physical Education.

In his eight years at San Marcos, Roth has transformed the swim and water polo teams.

“We went from a swim team that was consistently fifth in Channel League and now, we have an opportunity in the next couple of years to win the league,” he stated. “We had no CIF qualifiers the first three years and this year, we’ve qualified in four events and three relays in Division 1, the most competitive division.

“When I took over San Marcos water polo, they had won two games the previous year. We’ve had four 20-win seasons now and were ranked No. 7 in the CIF Div. 1. We’ve had one All-American and we were second in Channel League, our best showing in 13 or 14 years.”

Roth was an assistant coach for UCSB water polo from 1997-2000. He was hired at his alma mater, Temple City High, to start a girls’ water polo team and coach the swimmers. In just a few years, he produced seven All-CIF water polo players and his teams won CIF titles in 2003 and ‘04.

“Chuckie Roth is an exceptional choice to lead the program at SBCC,” said Gregg Wilson, who‘s in his 37^th season as UCSB‘s swimming and diving coach. “He is familiar with the community college structure, function and programming, and he is recognized in our community and in all of Southern California as an excellent coach, educator and colleague.

“He is held is the highest regard by everyone as a man of integrity and great character. I will not hesitate to send swimmers his way and they will benefit greatly from his coaching and instruction.”

Byrne is excited about Roth and the women’s swim program.

“By adding women’s swimming, it’s going to take us a step closer to being the best transfer institution in the country for intercollegiate athletics,” said Byrne.

“There’s a trend in this region for increasing competition in women’s aquatics and there’s definitely more than sufficient interest and ability in Santa Barbara County to offer that sport.

“Our goals are always academic first. We want to lay the groundwork for student-athletes to be the best they can be and to transfer to four-year institutions.”

SBCC to add Women's Swimming in spring 2014

Team Competition to Launch in spring 2014

The Santa Barbara City College Athletic Department announced that women’s swimming will be added to the slate of Vaqueros’ intercollegiate offerings beginning spring semester 2014. Recruitment of a coach and tentative team members are underway and further details will be announced at an organizational meeting scheduled in early May.

The decision to add women’s swimming was based on a number of factors: a demonstrated student interest and athletic abilities as expressed in three years of survey data,a desire to provide equitable opportunities for female students to participate in intercollegiate athletics, anda growth trend in women’s aquatic programs in community colleges throughout the region.

“SBCC is one of the best community colleges in the nation as evidenced by our recently winning the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence,” said Ryan Byrne, SBCC Athletic Director. “We also have one of the best transfer rates for student-athletes who go on to four-year colleges and universities.” He added, “With the phenomenal local talent in women’s swimming, the addition of this sport to our slate of intercollegiate offerings will bring us one step closer to our goal of being the premier community college athletics transfer institution in the country.”
The SBCC women’s swim team will compete in the Western State Conference (WSC) against other area colleges including Allan Hancock College, Cuesta College, and Ventura College and other community college in the greater Los Angeles area.

The SBCC Athletic Department also is considering an implementation plan for women's water polo, citing the interest and complementary nature of the two sports.

“We have an on-going responsibility to provide a vibrant and relevant set of course offerings and co-curricular activities to our students,” said SBCC President Lori Gaskin. “This requires we use our limited funds judiciously with the interests of the students at the heart of our offerings.” She added, “Women’s aquatics is an example of that thoughtful commitment to our student-athletes, and I look forward to watching this program grow and thrive over time.”

The SBCC Athletics Department currently sponsors 17 sports for men and women. In addition to higher-than-average transfer rates, statistics show that SBCC student-athletes are twice as likely as non-student-athletes to be transfer-ready after two years and twice as likely to complete their degrees. Nearly 33 percent of all student-athletes are on the SBCC Honor Roll with at least a 3.0 GPA.