Arun Chhetri of Culver City won top individual medals and helped his team medal count in gymnastics championships held this spring. He won the gold medal on floor exercise, second on pommel horse and third on vault and all-around at the Men’s Region 1 Championships held in Reno, Nev. Chhetri took third on pommel horse and parallel bars at his home Broadway Gymnastics School Peter Vidmar Invitational.
Bryanna Keith of Culver City captured the gold medal on vault at the California Classics this spring in Aliso Viejo.
El Rincon Elementary School student Andre Saldanna was named a national finalist in a t-shirt art design contest for TGA, an after-school program that teaches golf and tennis at elementary and middle schools, childcare centers and community centers.
Chip on shoulder
spurred Tanita
By George Laase
Winner of her second consecutive Ocean League Basketball Most Valuable Player Award, Taylor Tanita graduates Culver City High School next week and is on her way to UC San Diego.
The Lady Centaurs reached the CIF finals.
“It’s really been exciting to see that all my hard work paid off. Most of the credit goes to my teammates, because without them the two consecutive undefeated Ocean League Championships would not have been possible. The personal honors are exciting, but I’m really very excited about our record,” said Tanita.
“I think we had to be relentless throughout the season, not having a starter over 5-foot 8-inches. We were able to keep pressuring every opponent because our conditioning was so good that we could eventually wear teams down that initially could have beaten us.”
The senior guard praised her teammates.
“After losing so many seniors last year to graduation, the team and coaches asked a lot of freshman Kailey Tooke, junior Kelsey Ueda and senior Shannon Yahn,” said Tanita. “Kailey and Shannon were not even on the team last year and Kelsay was not a starter. So each girl knew she was going to have to step up and so they did in ways we couldn’t have predicted.
When asked if she has a “chip on her shoulder” she replied, “I don’t know. To think that I’m barely 100 pounds, and I’m going against players much bigger and taller than I am. I think it makes me even more determined to show people that I can play. It just makes this ride so much more exciting. Nobody ever expected that I would accomplish what I have.”
LONGSHOT: Senior Taylor Tanita makes a three pointer on her way to winning a second straight Ocean League Most Valuable Player. She will attend UC San Diego in the fall.
Photo by George Laase
MEDALISTS: Elizabeth Addas (13) and her ice dance partner Jonathan Schultz (14) earned a bronze medal in the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Omaha Nebraska. Addas and Schultz, who train at the Culver Ice Arena, won the Pacific Coast Sectional Championships last November in Provo, Utah.