The California Community College Athletic Association has named its team and individual scholar awards for the 2018-19, and Ventura College is once again well represented. The Pirates' men's tennis and women's track and field teams were both named State Scholar Teams for the academic year, and VC's Tatiana Garcia has been named to the State Scholar Athlete Honor Roll. The scholar team honors are Ventura's 38th and 39th awards since the program's inception in 1997-98 and VC has had at least one scholar team for 20 consecutive years.
Garcia, a Ventura High School graduate, was a two-sport standout at VC for two years while also earning a perfect 4.0 GPA. She was named the Pirates' Female Scholar Athlete of the Year for 2018-19. In cross country, Garcia finished ninth in the Western State Conference Championships, 13th at regionals and 29th at the CCCAA Championships, helping VC to an eighth place finish in the state. In track, she qualified for the WSC Championships in the 5k. Garcia transferred to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the fall.
The women's track and field team earned an incredible team grade point average of 3.58. They finished third in the WSC Championships, and eighth out of 28 teams in the Southern california Regionals. They sent four athletes to the CCCAA State Championships last May. They had a pair of All-American honorees including Cynthia Tuzak in the discus and Brieanna Tafoya in the 800 meters.
Men's tennis, meanwhile, posted a team GPA of 3.48. They had a 12-5 overall record, advancing to the Southern California Regional Quarterfinals. VC's doubles team of Antonio Rosales and Kyle Spiegelman won the Western State Conference title and advanced to the quarterfinals of the CCCAA State Championships at The Ojai Tournament.
The Scholar Team Award is the highest academic team achievement given annually by the CCCAA. All team members must have excelled academically with the team achieving a total GPA of 3.0 or higher. The team should also have demonstrated better than average accomplishments in intercollegiate athletic competition.
Since the inception of the State Scholar Team program, Ventura College leads all schools across the state in recognition for academic excellence. The Pirates have now won 39 State Scholar Team Awards, with Orange Coast second at 32. WSC schools Cuesta and Moorpark have 30 and 29, respectively, followed by Santa Barbara and Saddleback at 20 and 19, respectively.