In his four years of varsity lacrosse Ben Santos has played every position for the Hilltop Lancers. His versatility has made him the most indispensable player on Hilltop’s team.

“If I need somebody to do something the first guy I think of is Ben Santos,” said Lancer coach Pete Bishop. “He is very flexible, loves the game and just jumps right in there. Ben is a multi-sport athlete. They are great to have because the skills they have developed from their other sport often transfer.”

In the case of Santos, that other sport is water polo. Following last season Santos was selected as a first team all-league goalie and voted the Lancer’s MVP, but now his focus is completely on lacrosse. He acquired his love of the game through his father who serves as a Hilltop assistant coach.

“My Dad played intramural lacrosse at the Naval Academy. I was very active in a lot of sports when I was growing up. He bought me a lacrosse stick when I was about 11 or 12 and for years we just played together throwing it around. My first organized lacrosse was here at Hilltop during my freshman year.”

With his early introduction to the sport Santos was able to make the varsity team as a freshman and become one of a handful of athletes in his freshman class to earn a varsity letter that year. He has progressed with each season and developed into one of the top players in the South Bay.

While Santos can play anywhere on the field effectively, he prefers to play in either an attacking role or in the goal. Both positions require a lot of responsibility and come with a lot of pressure and Santos thrives on that. The Lancers are about .500 so far this year, but with Santos leading the way they have improved with each successive game.

Santos has been a top notch two-sport athlete for the Lancers over the last four seasons, but he will be also remembered for his academic prowess. He recently received an award as a National Hispanic Scholar.

“In order to qualify you have to be at least one quarter Hispanic, have a G.P.A of at least 3.2 and obtain certain score on your SATs. I just received a letter congratulating me on my acceptance,” Santos said.

Santos has already been accepted at LSU, UC Merced and UC Riverside. He is leaning toward UC Riverside where he hopes to study Biochemistry.

“I am hoping to go on to a career in sports medicine or toxicology.”

If he pursues that with the same enthusiasm that he demonstrates as an athlete he should one day enjoy a successful career.