Page 10 - Ft. Irwin High Desert Warrior Oct. 2015
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10 High Desert Warrior                                                                                                                            www.aerotechnews.com/ntcfortirwin
        October 2, 2015

Your Youth

High energy, camaraderie at SilverValley High

cross country meet

               Story and photos by Gustavo Bahena                                 Running and competing is a family tradition, Hope said,         Hope Stephens, a ninth-grade student and military family
                                                                               because her parents – Faith Stephens and Lt. Col. James Ste-       member at Fort Irwin, runs as a cross country competitor for
                            Public Affairs Office                              phens – also participated in cross country. Dad is commander       Silver Valley High School in Yermo, Calif., Sept. 15. Her time
                                                                               of Regimental Support Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry               for the course, just under three miles, was 23:36 minutes and
   Student athletes cheered and shouted motivation to their                    Regiment here.                                                     placed her in fourth in a meet with six other schools.
teammates and competitors as they ran during a cross country
meet hosted by Silver Valley High School in Yermo, Calif.,                        Faith said she was very proud of Hope for her run time and
Sept. 15.                                                                      dedication.

    Most high-school age students (military family members)                       “She’s worked very hard,” mom said. “She has had a lot on
of Fort Irwin attend Silver Valley High, within Silver Valley                  her plate. It’s really helped develop her time management.”
Unified School District, and ride buses to the off-post school
some 35 miles away. In addition to Fort Irwin and Yermo,                          Coming in at 20:30 minutes was Bryce Kim for the Trojan
the school serves high desert communities of Calico, Daggett,                  boys. A sophomore and military family member, Bryce said the
Ludlow and Newberry Springs.                                                   hills “were a little tough.” He has run in cross country for two
                                                                               years and also competes in track. Bryce’s father, Maj. Samuel
   The home team, the Trojans, hosted runs for girls and boys                  Kim, serves with Operations Group here.
in the non-league meet (the school competes in the Desert
Mountain League). The Trojans fielded a female team of 15                         Bryce gave credit to head coach Chris Greene and Seegrist,
girls and a male team of 13 boys, said Alex Seegrist, assistant                and described his team as supportive.
coach and ninth grade biology teacher.
                                                                                  “Our coaches our great – they always push us at practice and
   The visiting teams came from the following: Academy of                      make sure we give a 100 percent effort every single time,” Bryce
Careers and Exploration of Helendale, Calif.; Apple Valley                     said. “Our team, we just like to support each other and we all
Christian; Boron; California City; Cobalt Institute of Science                 love running. Sometimes we’re tough on each other, but to help
and Math of Victorville, Calif; Desert of Edwards, Calif., and;                push each other. We just help each other get better every day.”
Excelsior of Victorville.
                                                                                  Mike Meyer, athletic director at Silver Valley, also praised
   Annadee Losch of Apple Valley Christian was the fastest girl                the coaches, who are coaching the runners for the first time. He
with a time of 21:57 minutes and her school mate, Robert Saieg,                emphasized that there is higher participation in the female team
was the first boy with a time of 18:07 minutes.                                this year and the top runners are freshmen. He also explained
                                                                               that league meets begin in October.
   The first female runner for Silver Valley to finish (placing
fourth) was Hope Stephens, a ninth-grade student and military                     Faith expressed that parents have helped by attending school
family member. Hope’s time for the course, just under three                    activities and that the students would love even more attendance.
miles, was 23:36 minutes.
                                                                                  “You’re not going to find a more supportive group of parents,
   Hope said the time is her best. She prepared by doing “a                    anywhere in this area, I would dare to say,” Faith said. “The
lot of conditioning and a lot of running.” She stated her team                 parents – at anything I’ve gone to – whether at (Fort Irwin
performed well on a good course.                                               Middle School) or here at Silver Valley High School, are very
                                                                               supportive, in all the events.”
   “I felt we did pretty good today,” Hope said. “The track was really fast.”

The female team for cross country at Silver Valley High School in Yermo, Calif.                                                                   The boy’s cross country team for Silver Valley High School
For more information go to www.irwin.army.mil                                                                                                     starts their race.
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