Taylor Brooks wins SBART Athlete of the Year

SBCC's Taylor Brooks has been selected as the Women's Water Polo Player of the Year by the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table.

The sophomore from Honolulu led the state in scoring with 134 goals in 35 games for a 3.8 average. They also broke Emma Fraser's school scoring record of 123 goals, set in 2018.

Brooks' best game was a seven-goal performance against the Philippines National Team on Oct. 4. That was one shy of the single-game record of eight held by Fraser and Rocio Fesembeck. They also scored six goals in five different games and set a school record with seven drawn ejections in one game.

The Vaqueros went 30-5 last fall and won their sixth straight WSC title with an 8-0 record. They've won 40 consecutive WSC contests. SBCC finished third in the Southern Cal Regional. All five losses came to state champion Fullerton and state runner-up Riverside.

Brooks led the Vaqueros in goals (134), steals (71) and drawn ejections (67).

"Taylor is an amazing athlete," said Vaquero coach Chuckie Roth. "In my 20 years as a coach, I have only coached a few like Taylor. They came in with amazing talent, however what was impressive is how Taylor became a student of the game. Taylor learned so much in one season and improved tremmedously.

"I think Taylor loves to compete and has a very high level of drive and resiliency. In the water. Taylor is perhaps the most versatile player to ever play at SBCC. Taylor's speed, shooting and defending ability really separates them as an elite player who could easily play at any Division 1 school in the country.

"Taylor's improvement in four months was really amazing. I am glad our paths crossed and lucky to have coached Taylor."