Austin Barton Named Cuesta’s

2018 George Silveria Memorial Student-Athlete Award

SAN LUIS OBISPO (May 8, 2018) - The George Silveria Memorial Student/Athlete Career Award was established in 1966 by the Booster Club Board of Directors to honor and serve as a memorial for George Silveria. George was a graduate of San Luis Obispo District Junior College in 1948. He was the captain of the Championship football team in 1947, he was an executive member of the student body, and he was a very good student and was extensively involved in the community. He was well respected by his teammates, coaches, teachers and fellow peers. He truly exemplified the meaning of student/athlete. George served in World War II and died of Leukemia in 1961. The award has been given annually and from 1966 to 2002 as the Cuesta Athlete of the Year Award. Cuesta began giving a men’s and a women’s award in 1978 and did so until 2003, when Cuesta established the Outstanding Athlete of the Year Award, which left the George Silveria Award to stand on its own as a career award. It was decided that the merits emphasized by the award were not restricted by gender and the athletic department returned to only one award per year. This is the 53rd year of Cuesta College Athletics and the 53rd year of the George Silveria Award.

The award takes into consideration the student/athletes’ career as an athlete, their involvement in the college and community, sportsmanship, citizenship, coachabilty and leadership on and off the field. In a sense, this award exemplifies type of athlete we strive to mold here at Cuesta.

The 2018 George Silveria Athletic Career Award winner is Aquatic Star Austin Barton (Albany, OR). Barton competed in both water polo and swimming for two seasons. In individual swimming, Barton possesses outstanding speed, however it is his overall athleticism that also made him a star in water polo.

Barton is a two-time CCCAA State Qualifier in swimming and earned All American honors in the 50-freestyle as a freshman and should add honors in the 100 and 200 freestyles to earn All American in three events this Spring. He is a two-time Cuesta Swim & Dive Team MVP and led the team to the 2018 Western State Conference title and to 7th place at the CCCAA State Swim & Dive Championships. Barton won Western State Conference the 100 and 200 this season, but was second in the circuit in the 50-freestyle, which

he had won as a freshman. He owns Cuesta record marks in the non-championship 50-breaststroke (:28.39) and 100-individual medley (:57.93) and is in the Top 10 for a total of six events. In his specialty, Barton ranks 3rd all time in both the 50-freestyle (:20.90) and 100-freestyle (:45.91) and 5th in the 200-freestyle (1:42.36).

Barton was a two-year starter on Cuesta Men’s Water Polo team and led the Cougars to a pair of playoff berths. The Cougars were a combined 44-29 over his two campaigns and Barton was the Cougars’ top fastbreak threat and one of the team’s top outside shooters. He scored 84 goals is two seasons and earned all-conference 2nd team as a sophomore.

Barton twice earned All-Western State Conference Academic honors competed at Cuesta College and has compiled a 3.5 GPA over his first three semesters. He has accepted a scholarship to compete in water polo and swimming at Concordia-Irvine next year.

George Silveria Career Student-Athlete

1966 Ray Sayler (Football, Basketball, Baseball) 1967 Mark Anderson (Cross Country, Track & Field) 1968 Jim Sunderland (Wrestling) 1969 Richard Abney (Football, Wrestling) 1970 Steve Mowrey (Golf) 1971 Larry Ramos (Football, Wrestling) 1972 George Palmer (Wrestling) 1973 Camillo Alarcio (Football, Wrestling) 1974 Paul Kinne (Football, Baseball) 1975 Rusty Kuntz (Football, Basketball, Baseball)

& Dave Rusco (Basketball, Baseball) 1976 Kevin Hunstad (Football, Wrestling) 1977 Randy Roeder (Football, Baseball) Male Female 1978 Edmund Alarcio (FB, MTF) Laura McCarthy (WXC, WTF) 1979 Shawn Kuhn (MBB, Golf) Celeste Martyn (WXC, WTF) 1980 Steve Mitchell (MBB, MTF) Catherine Belcher (WXC, WTF, SB) 1981 Gregg Fambrough (MWP, MSD) Joanne Cooper (VB) 1982 Tom McKeown (MXC, MTF) Heidi Hausner (VB, WSD) 1983 Matt Armbruster (MXC, MTF) Karen Canfield (SB) 1984 Bill Lucia (MWP, MSD) Toni Venturini (VB) 1985 Sean Chambers (MBB, MTF) Kelly Buzza (WXC, WTF) 1986 Hank Peterson (MWP, MSD) Tracey Ross (WXC, WTF) 1987 Karl Blum (MWP, MSD) Cathy Jones (WXC, WTF) 1988 Todd Bates (MWP, MSD) Jennifer Bland (WSD)

& Kelly Porter (MWP, MSD) 1989 Brad Dodge (MT) Vanessa Hornbuckle (VB, WBB)

& Kathryn Krieger (WXC, WTF) 1990 Steve Long (MWP, MSD) Monica Castro (WT) 1991 Dean Jefferis (MWP, MSD) Melissa McCormick (WSD)

& Cee Cee Yancy (WBB) 1992 Geoff Bradshaw (MTF) Alyssa Van Schmus (WTF) 1993 Kipp Ortenberger (MXC, MTF) Erin Breeze (VB, WBB) 1994 Kipp Ortenberger (MXC, MTF) Wendy Ward (VB, WBB) 1995 Mike Barrow (MWP, MSD) Courtney Peters (WT) 1996 Shannon Lamb (MWP, MSD) Carrie Musolff (VB, WBB, WT) 1997 Marco Hanlon (BB) Anicia Bonds (WBB, WTF) 1998 Mark Merlo (MWP, MSD) Ashley Messer (VB, WBB) 1999 Chris Lund (MWP, MSD) Ashley Messer (VB, WBB) 2000 Sergio Reyes (MXC, MTF) Mary Benson (WWP, WSD) 2001 Patrick Furelos (MWP, MSD) Melinda Flores (WXC, WTF) 2002 Doug Leach (MWP, MSD) Courtney Christy (WWP, WSD) 2003 Katie Dacus (Water Polo, Swim & Dive) 2004 Christina Reyes (Cross Country, Track & Field) 2005 Bryan Etnrye (Water Polo, Swim& Dive) 2006 Chris Stehula (Cross Country, Track, Swim & Dive) 2007 Becca Reyes (Cross Country, Track & Field) 2008 Ian Starkie (Water Polo, Swim& Dive) 2009 Tammy Barksdale (Water Polo, Swim & Dive) 2010 Kayla Cribbs (Volleyball, Basketball) 2011 Evan Norton (Water Polo, Swim& Dive) 2012 Alexandria Bernard (Water Polo, Swim & Dive) 2013 Erin Casey (Water Polo, Swim & Dive)

& Matt Giancanelli (Water Polo, Swim & Dive) 2014 Riley Cooks (Volleyball, Track & Field) 2015 Rachel Gruetzmacher (Water Polo, Swim & Dive) 2016 Aly Voth (Cross Country, Track & Field) 2017 Sean McDermott (Cross Country, Track & Field) 2018 Austin Barton (Water Polo, Swim & Dive)