San Marcos’ Caitlyn Early, Laguna Blanca’s Ganden Walker Named Athletes of the Week
by Diego Sandoval, Noozhawk Sports Editor February 26, 2024
San Marcos softball’s Caitlyn Early and Laguna Blanca volleyball’s Ganden Walker powered their teams to wins last week to earn the Athlete of the Week awards.
Early and Walker were honored at Monday’s Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Press Luncheon at Harry’s Plaza Cafe.
Caitlyn Early, San Marcos Softball
Ganden Walker, Laguna Blanca Volleyball
Early and Walker were honored at Monday’s Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Press Luncheon at Harry’s Plaza Cafe.
In a trio of victories for the Royals, Early totaled five hits, eight RBI and three runs scored.
One of those hits for the Notre Dame commit was a long home run in a win over Jurupa Hills on Saturday to pace a strong offensive attack in the final league tune-up.
Meanwhile, Walker was a force on the outside for the Owls to begin the season.
In a pair of sweeps over Cate and Arroyo Grande, Walker tallied 16 kills in each matchup and chipped in five digs in the win against Arroyo Grande.
The girls honorable mentions for the week were Madeline Ferries (Bishop Diego Softball), Elina Stump (Santa Barbara Track & Field), Riley Pan (Cate Lacrosse) and Kiani Rojas (SBCC Basketball).
On the boys side, the honorable mentions were Beto Martinez (Carpinteria Baseball), Isaiah Hicks (SBCC Basketball), Wyatt Silver (Dos Pueblos Volleyball), Mason Rice (San Marcos Volleyball) and Raglan Kear (Santa Barbara Volleyball).
The Athlete of the Week award winners are selected by the local sports media. Coaches are encouraged to nominate deserving athletes.
The award is sponsored by the law firm of Maho-Prentice.