Before his high school career at Santa Maria High School started, current SMHS senior Gilberto Mora set three goals for himself.
He wanted to maintain straight A's throughout his four years there.
He wanted to earn a spot on the school's varsity soccer team.
He wanted to ease the college tuition burden on his parents by earning scholarship money.
Check, check and check.
The former Cabrillo basketball standout will major in kinesiology and, “Azusa Pacific got a new kinesiology lab there, and I was really impressed with it.” Hicks hopes to become a physical therapist. “I was able to shadow a physical therapist in Lompoc, and that really got me interested in that as a career,” he said.
Besides, at Azusa Pacific, there may be a chance Hicks can continue with his basketball career.
Mora has indeed earned straight A's during his time at Santa Maria. He carries a 4.38 GPA. Mora was the SMHS nominee for the Northern Santa Barbara County Athletic Round Table Male Scholar Athlete scholarship honor.
The Northern Santa Barbara County Athletic Round Table organization typically awards its scholarships during its annual awards dinner. The NSBCART cancelled its 2020 dinner because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Not only did he earn a spot on the varsity soccer team, Mora has been an integral part of the program. Mora was an All-Mountain League selection, and the Saints made it to the 2020 CIF Central Section Division 1 championship game, losing 1-0 to Fresno Central.
The Saints won in the first round of the Southern Cal regional in the state playoffs, then lost in the semifinals.
Soon after, spring sports statewide were put on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The rest of the spring sports season was cancelled soon afterward.
Mora has earned some scholarship money, enough to help with his tuition costs at Cal Poly.
Mora said he debated between Cal Poly and UC San Diego, but ultimately decided Cal Poly was the school for him.
"They're closer to home, and they helped with my tuition," said Mora. He said he will likely commute to Cal Poly for classes.
Mora has played competitive soccer since he was a child. Though that part of his life is done, Mora said he would like to stay in touch with the sport in some capacity.
"Academics always comes first for me, but if I can I will try to play soccer still," Mora said.
"Soccer was always a year-round sport for me. It was a big part of my life, and I made a lot of friends in the sport. Going without competitive soccer will be a challenge, but I'm willing to face it."
He will major in business administration at Cal Poly. His career goal is a job in financial management.
"Math courses have been my favorite classes at Santa Maria," said Mora. "They're challenging, but I learned a lot from them. I made a lot of friends in those classes as well."
Mora saw long hours dedicated to his schoolwork pay off when he was accepted into Cal Poly.
He has been a strictly online learner since March. California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a statewide shelter-in-place directive in March, and schools across the state have been closed since.
"I always prefer to be in the classroom, but online courses are not that bad," Mora said.
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Santa Maria's Edgar Garces draws a crowd of La Habra defenders in the regional semifinals of the Division ll Southern California Regional in the CIF State Boys Soccer Playoffs at Santa Maria.
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Santa Maria's Gilberto Gomez gets ahead of La Habra's Gabriel Castillo in the regional semifinals of the Division ll Southern California Regional in the CIF State Boys Soccer Playoffs at Santa Maria.
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Santa Maria's Nathan Chavez takes a shot but is blocked by La Habra's Sebastian Romero in the regional semifinals of the Division ll Southern California Regional in the CIF State Boys Soccer Playoffs at Santa Maria.
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Santa Maria's Erick Cardenas gets a pass in front of La Habra's Tanner Coombs in the regional semifinals of the Division ll Southern California Regional in the CIF State Boys Soccer Playoffs at Santa Maria.
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Santa Maria's goalkeeper Juan Ruiz stops a La Habra shot followed by Brady Hart (9) in the regional semifinals of the Division ll Southern California Regional in the CIF State Boys Soccer Playoffs at Santa Maria.
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Santa Maria's Anthony Pino (6) and La Habra's Sebastian Romero (5) head the ball in the regional semifinals of the Division ll Southern California Regional in the CIF State Boys Soccer Playoffs at Santa Maria.
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Santa Maria's Gilberto Mora gets ahead of La Habra's Cristian Reyes in the semifinals of the Division ll Southern California Regional in the CIF State Boys Soccer Playoffs at Santa Maria on March 5.
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Santa Maria's Edgar Garces takes a shot against La Habra in the regional semifinals of the Division ll Southern California Regional in the CIF State Boys Soccer Playoffs at Santa Maria.
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Santa Maria's Gilberto Gomez and La Habra's Dane Grassbaugh (20) head the ball in the regional semifinals of the Division ll Southern California Regional in the CIF State Boys Soccer Playoffs at Santa Maria.
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Santa Maria's Gilberto Gomez splits La Habra's Estevan Lalama and Gabriel Castillo in the regional semifinals of the Division ll Southern California Regional in the CIF State Boys Soccer Playoffs at Santa Maria.
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Santa Maria's Javier Real drives but La Habra's Sebastian Romero slides in to block his path to the goal in the regional semifinals of the Division ll Southern California Regional in the CIF State Boys Soccer Playoffs at Santa Maria.
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Santa Maria's Eddie Garces heads the ball over La Habra's Gabriel Castillo in the regional semifinals of the Division ll Southern California Regional in the CIF State Boys Soccer Playoffs at Santa Maria.
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Lalo Cuna, Santa Maria's coach, speaks to his team during halftime of the semifinals of the Division ll Southern California Regional in the CIF State Boys Soccer Playoffs at Santa Maria last month.
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Santa Maria's Javier Real and La Habra's Dane Grassbaugh go for the ball in the regional semifinals of the Division ll Southern California Regional in the CIF State Boys Soccer Playoffs at Santa Maria.
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Santa Maria's Edgar Garces gets knocked down in front La Habra's goal in the regional semifinals of the Division ll Southern California Regional in the CIF State Boys Soccer Playoffs at Santa Maria.
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Santa Maria's Eddie Garces gets past Oxnard Pacifica's Ricky Sanchez in the first round of the CIF SoCal Regional Division 2 playoffs on Tuesday.
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Santa Maria's Julio Dominguez celebrates his goal against Oxnard Pacifica in the first round of the CIF SoCal Regional Division 2 playoffs on Tuesday.
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Santa Maria's Ozzie Andrade stops a shot by Oxnard Pacifica's Gerardo De Jesus, as Roman Gutierrez of the Saints follows in the first round of the CIF SoCal Regional Division 2 playoffs on March 3.
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Santa Maria's Javier Real gets held by Oxnard Pacifica's Angel Gonzalez, resulting in a penalty kick for the Saints in the first round of the CIF SoCal Regional Division 2 playoffs on Tuesday.
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Santa Maria's Gilberto Gomez tries to keep the ball from Oxnard Pacifica's Miguel Castellanos in the first round of the CIF SoCal Regional Division 2 playoffs on Tuesday.
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Santa Maria's Edgar Garces moves the ball against Oxnard Pacifica's John Paul Melgoza in the first round of the CIF SoCal Regional Division 2 playoffs on Tuesday.
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Santa Maria's Luiz Aguilar celebrates the Saint's first goal against Oxnard Pacifica in the first round of the CIF SoCal Regional Division 2 playoffs on Tuesday.
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Santa Maria's Javier Real gets tangled up with Oxnard Pacifica's Jesus Martinez in the first round of the CIF SoCal Regional Division 2 playoffs on Tuesday.
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Oxnard Pacifica's Jorge Arrellano goes down as Santa Maria's Eddie Garces advances the ball in the first round of the CIF SoCal Regional Division 2 playoffs on Tuesday.
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Santa Maria's Clemente Tapia and Oxnard Pacifica's Ricky Sanchez head the ball in the first round of the CIF SoCal Regional Division 2 playoffs on Tuesday.
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Santa Maria's Gilberto Mora (10) gets behind Oxnard Pacifica's defense to score the Saints' fourth goal in the first round of the CIF SoCal Regional Division 2 playoffs on Tuesday.
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Santa Maria's Gilberto Mora (10) celebrates his goal against Oxnard Pacifica in the first round of the CIF SoCal Regional Division 2 playoffs in March. Mora heads from Santa Maria High to Cal Poly with a 4.38 GPA in high school. He's Santa Maria High's nominee for the Northern Santa Barbara County Athletic Round Table Scholar Athlete of the Year.
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Santa Maria celebrates a goal by Gilberto Gomez, left, against Oxnard Pacifica in the first round of the CIF SoCal Regional Division 2 playoffs on Tuesday.
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Santa Maria's Gilberto Gomez gets around Oxnard Pacifica's Ian Motelongo Ian in the first round of the CIF SoCal Regional Division 2 playoffs on Tuesday.
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Santa Maria's Gilberto Mora (10) and Oxnard Pacifica's Oscar Salgado (14) try to control the ball in the first round of the CIF SoCal Regional Division 2 playoffs on Tuesday.
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Oxnard Pacifica's Marco Palacios (20) tries to keep the ball from Santa Maria's Javier Real in the first round of the CIF SoCal Regional Division 2 playoffs on Tuesday.
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Santa Maria's Edgar Garces is defended by Oxnard Pacifica's Victor Rodriguez and Angel Gonzalez in the first round of the CIF SoCal Regional Division 2 playoffs on Tuesday.
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Santa Maria's Eddie Garces (42) gets ahead of Oxnard Pacifica's Ricky Sanchez in the first round of the CIF SoCal Regional Division 2 playoffs on Tuesday.
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Santa Maria's Julio Dominguez (22) looks for a shot in front of Oxnard Pacifica's goal as Omar Ochoa defends in the first round of the CIF SoCal Regional Division 2 playoffs on Tuesday.
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Santa Maria's Gilberto Gomez shoots in front of Oxnard Pacifica's goal in the first round of the CIF SoCal Regional Division 2 playoffs on Tuesday.
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Santa Maria's Gilberto Mora heads the ball under pressure from Oxnard Pacifica's Gerardo De Jesus (17) in the first round of the CIF SoCal Regional Division 2 playoffs on Tuesday.
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Central goalkeeper Roberto Jimenez (0) makes a late-game save to preserve the 1-0 win of the CIF Central Section Division 1 championship game in Santa Maria.
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Javier Real (23) of Santa Maria battles a Central defender during the CIF Central Section Division 1 championship game in Santa Maria. Central won 1-0
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Santa Maria players lay on the ground following a loss of the CIF Central Section Division 1 championship.
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Senior captain Erick Cardenas (24) sits on the pitch as the clock winds down during the CIF Central Section Division 1 championship game in Santa Maria.
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Edgar Garces (17) holds off a defender during the CIF Central Section Division 1 championship game in Santa Maria.
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Nathan Chavez (4) battles for a ball during the CIF Central Section Division 1 championship game in Santa Maria
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The stands were full of Saints fans during the CIF Central Section Division 1 championship game in Santa Maria
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Javier Real (23) passes in front of the net during the CIF Central Section Division 1 championship game in Santa Maria
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Santa Maria and Central played a physical game during the CIF Central Section Division 1 championship
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Roberto Jimenez (0) of Central celebrates quietly after his team scored the games only goal during the CIF Central Section Division 1 championship game in Santa Maria
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Roberto Jimenez (0) makes a save during the CIF Central Section Division 1 championship game in Santa Maria
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Nathan Chavez (4) works toward the net during the CIF Central Section Division 1 championship game in Santa Maria
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Edgar Garces (17) dribbles past a Central defender during the CIF Central Section Division 1 championship game in Santa Maria
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Nathan Chavez (4) and Roman Gutierrez (8) work a play during the CIF Central Section Division 1 championship game in Santa Maria
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Edgar Garces (17) gets cut down by Kaylob Walker (17) of Central High during the CIF Central Section Division 1 championship game in Santa Maria