Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Santa Barbara High’s Rebecca Neilsen-Robbins

Rebecca Neilsen-Robbins
Rebecca Neilsen-Robbins

The Santa Barbara High senior was honored as her school’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year at Monday’s Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table luncheon, and her list of accomplishments make her one of the most worthy recipients you’ll find.

The softball star carries a 4.8 GPA, taking four AP classes as well as college-level Astron
omy at SBCC. She is Editor in Chief of the SBHS student newspaper. She is a National Merit semifinalist and recipient of the Wellesley Book Award. She volunteers at Cottage Hospital and hopes to go to Stanford, where she’ll major in English and then apply to medical school.

She’s a pretty good pitcher too, earning MVP honors for the Dons the past two seasons. She batted .351 last year with an ERA of 2.43 and was an All-Channel League first-teamer. Her highlight was leading the Dons — a program which has struggled mightily for many years — to their first league win 10 years last season, a 6-1 victory over San Marcos.