Area athletes putting SCC on big stages

While you spend today recovering from your post-Thanksgiving bloated stomach syndrome, still glassy-eyed from all the turkey, mashed potatoes, football and family, let it not go unnoticed that some likely went without all those frills this year.

While I’m sure he’s not complaining, Nogales, Ariz.-native Oscar Valdez Jr. was making a bigger sacrifice than most yesterday�”being away from family, friends and bloated birds in Romania where he is training for his upcoming World Cup boxing matches in Russia (see story at the bottom of this page).

Having spoken to Valdez before, it is clear that family and friends are important to him and have been an inspiration for all the success he has gained, and will gain in the future.

Now, however, Valdez is far from home in an unfamiliar place�”but for good reason. He has his eye on a prize that will help him get back to his mountaintop�”the Olympics.

Having lost in the first round of the 2008 Beijing Olympics to the eventual gold medalist, Valdez is determined to avenge that loss�”and Thanksgiving wasn’t about to get in his way, so he decided to compete in the World Cup.

“I had actually talked to him about maybe not going (to the World Cup),” said his father Oscar Valdez Sr., “but he said there was no way in the world he was going to miss it.”

Now, that’s what I call dedication.

If we could all learn from that, we would all have something to be truly thankful for.

Others that are thankful they put in such hard work and dedication are Rio Rico High cross country runner Jose Luis Muñoz and Nogales High cross country runner Zahira Jimenez, plus Lady Apaches coach Manny Gatica.

While I usually do not promote other newspapers, I have it on good word that Jimenez and Gatica will be named as the Southern Arizona girls cross country Athlete of the Year and girls cross country Coach of the Year by the Arizona Daily Star in two days�”but remember, you heard it here first!

Kudos for a job well done by Jimenez and Gatica.

For Muñoz, his running season continues. You see, after competing in the Nike Nationals NXN Southwest Championships Saturday (see top story on this page), the Hawk harrier was invited to Portland, Ore., on Dec. 5 for the Nike Cross Country Nationals.

“It's a pretty big deal that Jose qualified for the national event,” said his coach Roger Bristow. “He is in with the elite of the nation. It is a first for our program, and he deserves some recognition.”

He also deserves a post-Thanksgiving thank you for putting Rio Rico in the national spotlight�”like Valdez is for Ambos Nogales.

(What do YOU think? E-mail “Ski” at editorial@nogalesinternational.com.)