July 1, 2015
Hello,
Folks:
It’s
been a while since last we checked in. The kids continue to Exceed
Expectations and we want to keep you apprised of their progress.
You’ve
seen photos of Arian (10) and Ahris Mayorga (6) racing and beating kids
much older than they. But they also excel at school and were recently
given awards for it, as was their younger brother Aramiz. Arian and Ahris
also take piano lessons from EE member Miguel Ibarra, who reports that
both boys are outstanding music students.
Isi Ibarra (Miguel's sister) “showed her stuff” early on by running a half marathon when she was 11 years old. She spent her first two years after high school graduation at Riverside Community College on a track scholarship. During that time she performed well on the track and in the classroom which has now landed her a track scholarship to West Virginia University. There she’ll be part of the elite track team while she studies Engineering. In August she’ll board a plane and fly across the country to start the next chapter of her life. We couldn’t be more proud of her.
Our
summer run training program began in June and will continue through the
summer months. This program will conclude in September with an EE team
race where five winners earn the privilege of going to San Diego for a
weekend in October to participate in the Challenged Athletes Foundation
Triathlon, which is quite a motivator. We’ve been doing this program for
years and we always see a real improvement in the kids’ running, and we
get more and more parents involved, which is a win for everyone.
Training
on June 7 was also a chance for the kids to say goodbye to two of the best
volunteers, and greatest people, EE has ever had, Brad Harris and Ryan
Trettevik. Last year Brad graduated from med school and is taking up
residency as an anesthesiologist at the University of Utah medical center
in Salt Lake City. Ryan received her PhD two weeks ago and already has
interesting research work lined up there. We'll miss them terribly (but
will show photos of the 200-mile
run Ryan is doing next month.)
We
have two EE kids who originally planned on graduating from college this
June, but each had a change in timing.
Marlene Samano (UCSD) had the opportunity and the funding to stay an extra year and do lab work alongside a professor who has been a major influence in Marlene’s college life. She’ll be paid for her work in the lab and will be taking classes as well. Marlene believes this extra year will put her in a better position when she goes out into the professional world after graduating in June ‘16.
Miguel
Ibarra (Cal State San Bernardino) needed an extra class after making a
late change in the Engineering track he was following. He’s finishing up
this summer and his graduation ceremony will be this September.
It
was quite a day for EE. We had 56 kids and parents racing and 15 of the
little ones did both the 5K and the kids’ triathlon afterwards.
Enrique
Campos: Running for a track scholarship to college
.jpg)
EE had a big showing on the podium for each of the races and the kids were excited about Lee’s racing along with them in the triathlon for the first time. Truth be told, most of them were finished and waiting for him at the finish line where they cheered like crazy. It was wonderful for them to see him commit to a goal, work hard and accomplish the goal, just like they did.
Here
are some photos of the event.
A
special thanks to Tri La Vie, a wonderfully supportive group of women
triathletes in the Orange County area. Many of their members sponsored
individual EE kids at this event.
As
you can imagine, taking this many kids racing has become a very large
expense. Having the kind of help Tri La Vie gives makes it possible for us
to keep our racing program going strong for the younger kids while we send
our high school graduates on to college, which is our primary goal.
As
always, a big thanks to all of you who so generously support our kids in
so many ways.
We’ll
be back in touch at the end of the summer.
-Cherie