Downey High student-athletes celebrated before leaving for college

Photo courtesy Downey High

DOWNEY – Downey High School hosted its annual scholar-athlete commitment celebration day last Thursday afternoon in the Downey High School theatre. 

The Vikings honored 11 student-athletes in seven different sports whom will be competing at various colleges and universities this fall.

Baraq Ross will be attending Azusa Pacific University to play football and Dilan Ajtun will be attending Cal Baptist University to wrestle. David Aguilera will attend Marymount University where he will play soccer and Salvador Hinojosa will play golf at Whittier College.

Giselle Mora will attend Earlham College where she will play volleyball and Abbey Rhodes will be attending Vanguard University where she will cheer and stunt. Natalie Reynosa will attend Cal State University, Los Angeles where she will play soccer.

Lauren Amezcua will attend Cal State Fullerton, Giselle Chavez will attend Hiram College, Miranda Padilla will attend Texas Tech University and Claire Smith will attend Colorado School of Mines where they will all play softball. The talented quartet helped lead Downey to a San Gabriel Valley League co-championship this spring (with Gahr) and a number one ranking in the C.I.F. Division 4 poll.

The Downey High School administration, faculty and staff are extremely proud of these talented student-athletes and wish them the best of luck in their respective sports. 

WARREN BASEBALL: The Warren High School baseball team finished its season with an overall record of 20-9 and were 7-3 in San Gabriel Valley League play. 

The Bears finished third in league play behind Gahr (9-1) and Downey (8-2), respectively. 
Warren was defeated by Bellflower, 1-0, on May 16 in the wild-card round of the C.I.F. Division 3 playoffs. Coach Pearson and his staff will now turn their attention towards next season.

WARREN SOFTBALL: The Warren High School softball team finished their season with an overall record of 17-13 and were 6-4 in San Gabriel Valley League play. 

The Bears finished third in league play behind league co-champions Downey (9-1) and Gahr (9-1). Warren was defeated by South Hills of West Covina at South Hills 4-3 on May 17 in the first round of the C.I.F. Division 2 playoffs. 

Brooklyn Araujo, Lesley Bojorquez, Karly Colenzo and Melena Gebur will all be playing softball at the next level after earning their respective scholarships. 

Coach Starksen and her staff are extremely proud of their players for their individual accomplishments and will now turn their attention towards next season.

WARREN BOYS VOLLEYBALL: The Warren High School boys’ volleyball team finished their season with an overall record of 17-6 and were 8-2 in San Gabriel Valley League play, finishing second in league play behind league champion Downey (10-0). 

Warren defeated Burbank, 3-1, (25-19, 31-33, 27-25 and 25-19) on May 8 in the first round of the C.I.F. Division 2 playoffs but were then defeated by Arroyo Grande at Warren, 3-1, in the second round on May 10. 

Coach Lane and his staff will now turn their attention towards next season.

WARREN STUDENT-ATHLETES: Warren High School will have 15 student-athletes competing at different colleges and universities this fall.

The Warren administration, faculty and staff are extremely proud of all Bear student-athletes and wish them the best of luck in their respective futures.

DOWNEY HIGH BASKETBALL: The Downey High School boys’ basketball program will be offering a summer basketball camp at Downey High School. 

The camp will begin Tuesday, June 5, and conclude Thursday, June 21. The camp will be Monday-Thursday from 8-10 a.m. and will be held inside the Donna Boose Gymnasium. 
The first day of camp will be held on Tuesday, June 5, due to the Athletic Open House on Monday, June 4.

Registration begins June 5 at 7:30 a.m. inside the gym. Early registration can be directed to head coach Larry Shelton at lsheltonhoops@aol.com or by telephone at (562) 412-7528. Cost is $150 and includes a Downey High basketball jersey and shorts. 

There will also be another basketball camp open for grades 4-9 in August. The camp will feature basketball fundamentals, in-camp games and tournaments, fun and summer league and tournaments for incoming freshmen who make the team. 

Larry Shelton and his staff will be running the camp. Shelton has been the varsity coach at Downey for 30 years, is a two-time Los Angeles Times Coach of the Year and was the San Gabriel Valley League Coach of the Year in 2011, 2012 and 2014. 

Coach Shelton has 458 lifetime victories as head coach at Downey. Shelton and his staff hope to see you June 5 inside the gymnasium.

GET FIT CAMP: The GetFit Youth Fitness program for girls will begin June 11 and conclude June 22. 

The camp is two weeks in duration and will be held Monday-Thursday from 7-11:00 a.m. The camp itself will be held at Apollo Park and welcomes elementary, middle and high school students.

GetFit is a comprehensive fitness camp that offers instruction in the areas of aerobic and strength conditioning, mobility, nutrition and goal setting. The camp provides a foundation for any sport but puts an emphasis on cross country and track and field.

Many girls join the GetFit program having little experience and become amazing athletes in no time at all. The GetFit camp features a day trip and hike in Griffith Park. The camp is also great for soccer, softball and basketball players looking to fine tune their fitness levels for their respective upcoming seasons.

The GetFit Camp also offers endurance, speed, aqua training, strength training, mobility, team bonding, Olympic guest speakers, having fun, life skills, diet and nutrition and also includes food and refreshments daily.

There will be a parent information meeting on Wednesday, June 6, at 6:30 p.m. inside Justice Stadium on the campus of Warren High School. Registration will follow immediately after the parent meeting. 

Registration will also be held Friday, June 8, from 6-8 p.m., June 9 from 7-10 a.m., and June 11 starting at 6 a.m. 

For more information, prospective GetFit campers may contact Jay Waldron at jwaldron@dusd.net, getfityouthfitness@gmail.com or by phone at (562) 544-3373.