Martin, Larson are SBCC Scholar-Athletes of the Year

Hannah Martin and Kit Larson have been selected as SBCC’s Scholar-Athletes of the Year for the 2014-15 academic year.

Martin is a 5-10 sophomore with a 3.73 GPA. The central midfielder from Newburyport, Maine helped the Women’s Soccer team capture its second WSC North title in the last four years in the fall of 2014. The Vaqueros went 14-3-5 overall and had their first-ever undefeated conference campaign (9-0-3).

Martin was a first-team All-WSC choice who led the team with nine assists. She scored both goals in a 2-0 upset of No. 6 San Bernardino Valley (unbeaten at the time) in the final regular-season game.

“We played her as an attacking midfielder, wide forward and center forward but she really did very well as a holding center midfielder,” said women’s soccer coach John Sisterson. “She won virtually everything in the air for us and distributed the ball very well to get others involved.”

Sisterson said Martin has had scholarship offers and hopes to continue her career at UCSB, Hawaii or another NCAA Div. 1 school.

Larson is an All-American relief pitcher who helped the baseball team to a fifth-place State finish last year, the best in school history. The 6-4 right-hander from Mill Valley, Calif., has a 3.7 GPA and has accepted a scholarship to play at North Carolina State.

Larson was selected to the Academic All-State baseball team in 2014 and 2015.

He was named first-team All-WSC North, All-Southern Cal and All-American last year. He went 4-2 with six saves and broke a 35-year-old school record with his 0.94 earned-run average.

He’s interested in Documentary Film studies and plans to major in Communications at NC State with a focus in New Media.

“Kit is a tireless worker who achieves to make himself and those around him better,” said baseball coach Jeff Walker. “His determination and preparation make him successful in the classroom and on the baseball field.  We were lucky to have Kit here at SBCC as part of our Baseball program. NC State is getting not only a great baseball player, but a great person.”

Larson has a 2.79 ERA this season with one save in 9.2 innings. SBCC is ranked No. 7 in Southern Cal with an 12-4 record.

Larson has been at SBCC for three years, redshirting in 2013. He’s completed 68 units.

“I love going to school at SBCC and I've grown a tremendous amount in my three years here,” he stated. “I have found myself as a person, which has allowed me to realize my potential as an athlete and a student. Once I decided on what I truly wanted out of my experience at this school, the support from my teammates and coaches allowed me to make huge strides toward finding success.

“I would say the most important concept I've learned at SBCC was a phrase my head coach Jeff Walker would often preach at practice: "Everything you do matters." It's a simple concept but it is a process to understand it completely. Keeping this frame of mind has helped keep my head going in the right direction.”