Pioneer Valley's Lauren Carandang was named the winner of the Northern Santa Barbara County Athletic Round Table Female Athlete of the Year last week.
Pioneer Valley's Lauren Carandang receives the Female Athlete of the Year scholarship during a presentation of awards for the 2020 Northern Santa Barbara County Athletic Round Table last week at the the Joe Centeno Administration Building in Santa Maria.
Pioneer Valley's Lauren Carandang was named the winner of the Northern Santa Barbara County Athletic Round Table Female Athlete of the Year last week.
Pioneer Valley's Lauren Carandang was named the winner of the Northern Santa Barbara County Athletic Round Table Female Athlete of the Year last week.
Pioneer Valley's Lauren Carandang, center, was named the winner of the Northern Santa Barbara County Athletic Round Table Female Athlete of the Year last week.
Pioneer Valley track and field athlete Lauren Carandang is named Athlete of the Week during a Northern Santa Barbara County Athletic Round Table at Giavanni's Pizza in Orcutt in March.
Pioneer Valley's Lauren Carandang was named the winner of the Northern Santa Barbara County Athletic Round Table Female Athlete of the Year last week.
Pioneer Valley's Lauren Carandang, second from right, was named the winner of the Northern Santa Barbara County Athletic Round Table Female Athlete of the Year last week.
Pioneer Valley High School senior Lauren Carandang had known for awhile that she would continue her education at either UC Berkeley or UC San Diego.
She decided on UC San Diego.
“I felt UC San Diego was a more positive environment that I could learn in,” she said.
“Besides, financially, in the long run, it is better for me to go there.”
Carandang will study general biology at UC San Diego and hopes to go to medical school.
Carandang was named the Northern Santa Barbara County Athletic Round Table Female Athlete of the Year last week.
Besides holding the school girls triple jump record at 36 feet, 2 inches she carries a 4.18 grade point average at Pioneer Valley.
The NSBCART typically awards its scholarships at its annual awards dinner. The organization cancelled its 2020 dinner because of the COVID-19 pandemic and awarded the winners their plaques and scholarships at a ceremony last week in Santa Maria.
Carandang was on the Pioneer Valley track varsity team for four years, the only freshman to earn a permanent varsity spot.
She qualified for the post-season in the triple jump three times and had already met the CIF Central Section qualifying mark her senior year when sports statewide ended in March because of the pandemic.
Carandang also qualified in the pole vault and long jump last year and ran for the second-fastest girls relay team in school history.
Still, “I’ve already gotten used to going without competitive sports during the quarantine,” she said.
“I’m just going to concentrate on academics at UC San Diego, but I will always miss my teammates and coaches at Pioneer Valley and the sport. I’ll always try to stay in shape.”
Carandang said she is leaning toward pursuing a career as an OB/GYN.
She said she has long been interested in the medical field, and the interest stems from her mother. Arsenia Carandang works as a nurse at the Veterans Administration Clinic in Santa Maria and at Santa Ynez Cottage Hospital.
Lauren Carandang was a volunteer at Marian Hospital for two years. She wrote in her scholarship application that she was the youngest mentee chosen to participate in the Dignity Health Physician Mentoring Program.
“I actually got to shadow an OB/GYN and that really got me interested in that specialty,” she said.
Like many, Carandang said she has adjusted to online learning but would rather be in the classroom “I’m a hands on learner,” she said.
Senior Spotlight Series: Celebrating the area's top senior student-athletes
Our 'Senior Spotlight' series is aimed at highlighting senior student-athletes who have had their final year of high school disrupted by the coronavirus outbreak. The athletes featured here were their school's nominee for Athlete of the Year or Student Athlete of the Year for the Northern Santa Barbara County Athletic Round Table's end-of-year banquet that has been canceled due to the outbreak.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Orcutt Academy senior Josiah DeBruno had a (very) abbreviated 2020 senior track season. He is hoping to resu…
Fresno State or Cal State Bakersfield? For Santa Ynez High School senior wrestler Richie Sandoval, when it came to where he would continue his…
Eli Pellot is moving on from a decorated, and busy, career at Cabrillo High School.
After a decorated senior season in which she was an integral part of a history-making Orcutt Academy girls basketball team, Mariah Lopez hopes…
Ever since he was a child, Eric Ahler has been gazing into space through a telescope. "I've always liked learning about stars and space, and h…
Some of Mariana Tello’s illustrious athletic career at Santa Maria High School was spent on land. Some of it was spent in the water.
It had rained before the 2019 Santa Maria Christmas Parade. With all that moisture on the ground, “We were the only high school band that show…
A future first-generation college student, Righetti High School senior Emily Lopez had zeroed in on Santa Barbara City College as her school o…
Faith and family have always been most important to Ryan Morgan, and the Lompoc High School senior said family is a big reason why he will con…
Cabrillo High School senior Morgan McIntyre carries a 4.20 GPA, and she was accepted into every college she applied to. She was all set to con…
Pioneer Valley High School senior Lauren Carandang had known for awhile that she would continue her education at either UC Berkeley or UC San …
UC Santa Barbara or UC Irvine? That was the decision Santa Maria High School senior Doris Nogales felt she had to make as far as where to cont…
The Nipomo High School Female Senior Athlete of the Year will not have to commute far for the next stop in her respective academic and athleti…
Jake Steels seemed headed for an all-everything 2020 senior sports school year at Righetti High School.
Ayziah Simmons burst on to the Lompoc High School soccer scene as a freshman and quickly became a rising star. Trouble was, she was putting so…
Swimming has been a big part of Hancock College sophomore Izzie Fraire’s life since she was a child. “I’ve been part of the Santa Maria Swim C…
St. Joseph senior Janelle Brickey was all set to major in pre-earth science at UC Santa Barbara. Then, while watching an episode of a hit TV s…
Ernesto Gomez was a four-year track runner at Pioneer Valley and a varsity runner the last two - though his senior season, as everyone else’s …
For Valley Christian Academy senior Kathryn Eiler, there is a lot to like about Patrick Henry College. As far as Eiler is concerned, there is …
Since he was a fourth grader at Fairlawn Elementary School in Santa Maria, competitive running has been a big part of Jedric Callado's life. N…
“The apple doesn’t fall from the tree,” may sound like a cliche, but Lompoc High School senior Amy Bommersbach has made her career choice beca…
After an illustrious high school aquatics career, “I will be playing (NCAA) Division I water polo,” said Santa Ynez senior Henry Allen.
Christian Morin carries at 3.96 GPA at Pioneer Valley. He played "the big three" football, basketball and baseball, during his time there.
Most successful athletes have at least one thing in common — remarkable peripheral vision. Cabrillo High School senior Antoinette Terrones has…
William Jin was a mainstay for an Orcutt Academy boys tennis team that made it to the CIF Central Section divisional semifinals last year and …
Azusa Pacific, Jeremy Hicks decided, has several things going for it. Thus, that is where the Cabrillo High School senior Male Scholar Athlete…
Before his high school career at Santa Maria High School started, current SMHS senior Gilberto Mora set three goals for himself.
Cal Poly has a sound reputation as an agricultural school. Orcutt Academy senior Karli Lundberg hopes to go into the agricultural field. She a…
When it came down to where she will continue her education and athletic career, Santa Ynez High School senior Quincy Valle was in decision-mak…
St. Joseph senior Richard Gonzalez made sure his final high school year of wrestling would be his most fruitful one. The four-year high school…
As far as where to go to continue his education, Lompoc High School senior Oscar Rojas figured Yale had an unbeatable combination. “Ever since…
After playing four years of baseball at St. Joseph High School, the last two (well, counting a truncated senior season) on the varsity, Aden A…
Player of the Decade: We're looking for the top player of the last 10 seasons
The sports staff at the Santa Maria Times, Lompoc Record and Santa Ynez Valley News is looking for the top football player from Northern Santa Barbara County and San Luis Obispo County over the last 10 seasons of high school ball.
See who our nominees are thus far.
Scored first NFL TD in 2019 with Dolphins
Caleb Thomas' football career at Righetti High School feels like a movie script.
Garrett Owens was a solid offensive player during his days at Arroyo Grande High.
Anyone who flips on Toa Taua's freshman highlight tape at Lompoc High will see a No. 35 in blue that does not look or play like a freshman. F…
Russ Edwards coached Matt Albright during the quarterback's two seasons on the varsity level at Nipomo High.
Fenton Will was a highly-skilled football player during his days at St. Joseph.
Nick Kimball put together one of the most spectacular seasons by a wide receiver in Central Coast history in 2014.
Bradley Mickey led Arroyo Grande in receiving yards in 2015.
Every once in a while, a special type of player comes around.
The physical tailback known for his punishing running style once declared himself the 'YAC President' during his days at Lompoc High. He made …
In a lineup of the area's top football players of the past decade, Blake Truhitte will certainly stand out.
Dominance on a football field is, at times, hard to see.
Tom Goossen, who coached Arroyo Grande's football team to a CIF Southern Section title in 2011, once said Seth Jacobs would probably be his te…
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Kenny Cress
Sports Reporter
Kenny Cress, sportswriter for the Santa Maria Times since September of 2000. BA in political science from Cal Poly Pomona. BA in journalism from Cal State Northridge.
