Barry FaulknerRecent Corona del Mar High graduate...

Barry Faulkner

Recent Corona del Mar High graduate Garrett Snyder, whose three-year

varsity tennis career at the school resulted in four CIF Southern

Section championships, is the Sea Kings’ Boys Athlete of the Year.

Snyder, who transferred to CdM after his freshman year at Santa

Margarita, helped Coach Tim Mang’s Sea Kings forge a 70-3 record the

last three seasons, including unbeaten CIF championship campaigns in

2001 and 2003.

The Sea Kings were 24-0 this spring, polishing off their perfect

season with a 14-4 triumph over Santa Barbara in the CIF Division I

title match.

Snyder, who will continue his tennis career at Texas, was 55-0 in

dual-match competition as a senior.

After winning Southern Section doubles titles as a sophomore and

junior, he sought to claim a CIF crown in singles this season. That

quest appeared on track when he upset top-seeded Jeffrey Das from

Troy in a hard-fought semifinal showdown, a victory that avenged a

loss to Das at the Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament earlier in the

spring. But Snyder was surprised by unseeded Calabasas sophomore Gary

Sacks in the CIF singles title match and had to settle for runner-up

laurels.

Snyder played mostly singles throughout his three varsity regular

seasons, but paired up in the postseason in 2002 and ’01.

As a junior, Snyder teamed with then- freshman Carsten Ball

to win the CIF doubles crown, a title he collected the previous

season paired with then-senior Brian Morton.

Adding to his doubles spoils, he joined CdM teammate Cameron Ball

to win the interscholastic doubles crown at the 2002 Ojai Valley

tournament.

He and the younger Ball won all 20 sets in postseason play last

season, including a Pacific Coast League doubles crown.

Snyder and Morton also claimed the PCL championship in doubles in

2001, when they helped the Sea Kings post a 23-0 record and wrap up

the CIF Division V championship.

CdM was upset in the CIF Division V semifinals by Brentwood in

2002, as Brentwood avenged a 14-4 loss to the Sea Kings in the 2001

CIF title match.

Snyder is only the 12th player to win back- to-back CIF doubles

titles, only the sixth to accomplish the feat with different

partners.