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www.sdcitytimes.com | March 24, 2015
CITYSPORTS
Eiffel state of mind
March madness
SophomoreDavid Lin selected to receive3C4A Achievement Award
Women?s badminton teamcompetes in Mesa Collegetournament By DAVIDPRADEL Ci ty Ti mes After eight hour s of badminton at the second annual Mesa College Badminton Tour nament, the player s fr om the San Diego City College women?s badminton team found success among four other teams on Mar ch 20. ?I t was kind of unexpected ? I didn?t expect anyone to win anything today, we came in her e just to see how the other teams play. I am ver y pleased on how the player s perfor med and also ver y pleased on (sophomor e Gina Niph) winning in the singles,? women?s badminton team Head Coach Son Nguyen said. I n the women?s single elimination br acket, it featur ed a total of 35 player s fr om Pasadena College, I r vine Valley College, Gr ossmont College, Mesa College and City College. On her way to the championship match in the women?s singles, Niph defeated four player s, including her fr eshman teammate Thao L e in the semifinals. In the championship match, Niph battled it out against Pasadena College freshman Rebecca Tzou. It was a close match from the start, as both traded points back and forth, but Niph
See MARCH, page 13
By DAVIDPRADEL Ci ty Ti mes Maintain a 4.0 GPA? Check. Over come obstacles on the tennis cour ts? Check. Help advocate for the Associated Students Gover nment at San Diego City College? Check. I t?s not ever y day wher e a student hops on a plane and tr avels mor e than 5,000 miles fr om Par is to San Diego and accomplishes his or her goals. But for sophomor e tennis
player David L in, he has swung himself to find success in Souther n Califor nia and has been selected to r eceive the Community College Counselor s/Adviser s Academic Association (3C4A) Achievement Awar d. I t will be pr esented to him on Apr il 1 at the 18th annual Califor nia Community College Athletic Association convention in Ontar io. ?I would like to thank my coach (Head Coach Br andon L upian), because he has been pushing me for war d since the fir st time I came to San Diego and I think it?s because of him that I think I got this awar d,? L in said. ?This awar d means a lot to me because I was losing a lot last year and seeing that I can over come the defeats ? it?s always a positive thing to see, to know and to have in your life,? L in continued. The 3C4A Achievement Awar d honor s studentathletes who have over come gr eat per sonal, academic, and or emotional odds to achieve success while par ticipating in inter collegiate athletics. ?Getting to know David L in and
under standing his ambitions helped a lot.? in life, his temper ament and L in went on to say that his wor k habits ? I mean with his family back in Fr ance ther e is no better r epr esenta- and by joining the tennis team tive to win that awar d than and going fr om classr oom to him,? L upian said. classr oom, he was able to sur?He has wor ked har d fr om r ound himself with English day one, actually even pr ior to native speaker s, which helped day one stepping her e at San him quickly over come the lanDiego City Colguage bar r ier. lege. ? Just When the the wor k only men?s tennis getting acteam hear d he cepted to the was being honschool is har d or ed with the and he did all 3C4A awar d of the (inter nanext month tional) r equir ealong with a ments and to $250 scholarhis cr edit he is ship, the team her e and he celebr ated and has r eally as sophomor e taken advanteammate Gertage of his time man Ziella exher e,? L upian pr essed that he continued. and other playIt was er s on the team German Ziella, wer e not surnear ly two tennis player pr ised due to year s ago when L in arhis wor k ethic r ived to San on and off the Diego and for the Fr ench na- tennis cour ts. tive speaker who did not know ?As much as he was dedia wor d of English ? he still cated in tennis, he was twice r emained focused on star ting as dedicated to his studies ? his car eer in the States. I ?m happy for him and excited ?For the fir st two weeks I that he is going to get that didn?t under stand anything to awar d because he is r epr ebe honest, but somehow I senting the team and also the don?t know what happened school and we ar e pr oud of but in the thir d week I picked having him on the team,? up ever ything and star ted to Ziella said. under stand,? L in said. ?My Aside fr om playing tennis, English wasn?t good still but I could under stand which See LIN, page 13
?Asmuch ashe wasdedicated in tennis, he was twice as dedicated to his studies... I?m happy for him and excited that he isgoing to get that award ...?
Knightsedged out by Olympians City Collegesoftball teamsuffers loss against conferencerival Mesa College, 7-2 By DAVIDPRADEL Ci ty Ti mes I n the opening minutes, Mesa College got on the scor eboar d fir st and never looked back as the Knights softball team was defeated by their confer ence r ivals 7-2 at home on Mar ch 11. ?I think over all we did well, we just need to get our timely hits and just back up our pitcher s mor e,? fr eshman Alex Galatis said. The Olympians got the fir st r un in at the top of the fir st inning and although Galatis fir ed back with a double and after a RBI
fr om fr eshman Malin Ellstr om that br ought Galatis home; Mesa College pour ed in the four th and sixth inning and got the victor y. At the top of the sixth inning, Mesa got two r uns in and was up 5- 1 which for ced fr eshman star ting pitcher, I vana Gonzalez to be switched out for fr eshman Micela Ross. Ross came out with str ong ener gy and str ong pitches, but it was a little too late and the Knights couldn?t over come their 5point deficit against the Olympians. With the loss against the
Olympians, the Knights fell to an over all r ecor d of 5-13 and a confer ence r ecor d of 1-7. L ike Galatis mentioned ear lier, she continued to expr ess that in or der for the team to get some wins, it all lies on timely hitting. ?I think we just need to get our timely hits. We can hit the ball but we don?t do it when r unner s ar e on ? say thir d base; we don?t get the hits to move them ar ound,? Galatis added. I n the game, the Knights left a total of seven r unner s on base. I n the Knights fir st meeting with the
Olympians on Feb. 13, the Knights lost 8- 0. But r ecently, on Mar ch 17 after losing their fir st two matchups against Mesa; City College got the 3-2 victor y which ended the team?s seven game losing str eak. ?I feel like our bats ar e getting better, our ener gy is getting better and we ar e connecting mor e as a team; but we just ar en?t moving r unner s over like we should,? Ross said. Cur r ently, the team sits in seventh place in the confer ence with an over all Freshman starting pitcher Ivana Gonzalez throws the softball down r ecor d of 7-16 and a confer- the line during the first inning against Mesa College on March 11at ence r ecor d of 2-9. theBettyHockSoftball Field. DAVIDPRADELCi ty Ti mes