July 31, 2015 VO LUM E 1 4 | IS S U E 36 | FREE
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Racing ’hobby’ keeps him on track Centennial driver finishes second at Mile High Nationals By Jim Benton
jbenton@colorado communitymedia.com Driving a race car more than 190 mph can be addictive, and J.J. Heber is hooked. Heber, a 39-year-old Centennial resident, leads the National Hot Rod Association’s Division 5 region Top Sportsman standings by 19 points over Jim White of Haysville, Kansas. “I’ve been doing this since high school,” said Heber, who is in the landscape business. “I’m addicted. It’s more addictive than anything else. It’s a hobby. We just do it as a family hobby, my mom and dad, wife and kids. I don’t make enough money to make it real. It gets expensive.” Heber, driving a 2006 Mustang, had one
of the best cars at the Mopar Mile High Nationals, but a bad reaction at the start of the July 26 title race against Longmont’s Ron Williams was costly as he wound up the Top Sportsman runner-up. “In the finals, I lost the beams and missed the tree,” he explained. “I pushed it all the way that I could and tried to break him out and instead I broke out. We were pretty consistent all day. We were happy.” Heber, whose father Gary is in charge of the mechanical work on the car, reached 192.55 mph but couldn’t catch Williams before the finish line. “Dad does all the technical work,” Heber said. “I just drive the car and maintain it. It’s still a definite adrenaline rush to drive the car.” For the first time, the NHRA has a national award for Top Sportsman drivers where the best results in three of five national races Hobby continues on Page 9
Centennial’s J.J. Heber in his 2006 Mustang. Heber finished second in the Top Sportsman division at the Mopar Mile High Nationals but remains the Division 5 NHRA Top Sportsman divisional leader. Photo by Jim Benton
Arapahoe grad finds strength Hiner battled grief after tragedy, gained recognition By Jennifer Smith
jsmith@coloradocommunitymedia.com
Her now 14-year-old son went through chemotherapy with Children’s for a year after a lump was detected under Littleton: his arm. He Centennial: is now in remission Highlands Ranch: and will be starting Parker: high school this year, Castle Rock: cancer-free, Erwin said. She feels Children’s Colorado is an important place in the community and riding in the Courage Classic is her means to help out, she said. “They (the hospital) have expertise that applies to children and their families, both in terms of dealing with children medically, but also helping children through the process,” she said. “Children feel cared for and special
After Sarah Hiner’s friend Karl Pierson killed himself and their classmate Claire Davis right outside the door to the physics class she shared with him, she knew she had to find a way to reclaim her life. “I was super traumatized,” said Hiner, who graduated from Arapahoe High School in May. “We had to run out of the classroom over the blood in the hallway. … I was having hallucinations and nightmares. I took it really, really bad.” Even before that day — Dec. 13, 2013 — Hiner had been having her own strug- Hiner gles. She lived in Capitol Hill with her parents and a sister two years her junior. Attending East High School was comfortable for her, but she wanted a better education than she felt she was getting. An adult mentor guided her to Arapahoe, and she began taking an RTD bus down University Boulevard every school day, 45 minutes each way. “I had a hard time fitting in,” she said. “I was taking the bus, which the Arapahoe kids would never set foot in, coming from what was, in their minds, the ghetto.” She needed a little help in physics, and Pierson spent some time with her. “He was a different kid,” she said. “He was very smart, and kind of an outcast. Kids were mean to him … But I tried to open up to him, because sometimes when you do that, people open up to you. “You never know what people are going through, or what will make or break them. … I’m mad at him, but I know he was hurting.” Hiner was involved in the school’s Future Business Leaders of America club and was chosen to be its social media director. She had also been accepted to California Polytechnic State University, but she knew her family couldn’t afford it. So she started researching scholarships
Pedaling continues on Page 9
Grad continues on Page 9
Riders participate in the first day of the Courage Classic. Courtesy photos
Pedaling for a purpose Courage Classic ride brings hospital supporters together
NUMBER OF RIDERS FROM SOME SOUTH METRO AREA COMMUNITIES
By Taryn Walker
twalker@colorado communitymedia.com More than 200 south metro area residents were among the thousands of cyclists who rode 150 miles-plus over three days to raise money for patients of Children’s Hospital Colorado. Nearly 2,000 riders pedaled the Courage Classic bike tour along Copper Mountain Resort Route, July 18-20, according to Monique McCoy, spokeswoman for Children’s. This year’s 26th annual ride raised more than $2.9 million for patients and families, as well as helped meet the $35 million mark for the event since the hospital first began. More than 400 volunteers and numerous sponsors stepped up to the plate to make the 2015 ride happen to also encourage awareness. Centennial mother Denise Erwin rode in her 12th consecutive Courage Classic that weekend for her son Alex, who was diagnosed with anaplastic large cell lymphoma in 2012. “Nobody wishes this would happen,”
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Centennial resident Denise Erwin and her son, Alex, pose for a photo before the Courage Classic. Erwin participated in the bike tour July 18-20 and rode more than 150 miles for her son, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2012. Erwin said. “As a parent, it is terrible to walk your child through a journey like that. Everyone always assumes that cancer only happens to everyone else. People like me don’t want to feel silly running to the doctor for just anything, but in this case — it was life-saving.”