SPORTS

17 Westside golf tourney supports student-athletes

BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI

West Valley View Executive Editor

The foursome of Jeff Lopez, Santino Coronado, Vince Iniquez and Robert Coronado won the 28th annual Cinco de Mayo Benefit Golf Tournament May 1 at Palm Valley Golf Course.

Coronado, Iniquez and Coronado witnessed the hole-in-one shot by Lopez on the par 3, hole 8 on the north course.

The second-place winners were Sammy Garcia III, Mike Avila, Kenny Williams and Steve Cruz. Mike Rudolfo Sr., Brian O’Hare, Matt Lucci and Remington Coates took third.

The event featured community and business leaders from across Arizona and is an annual fundraiser event for the Westside Recreational Program.

The program has served West Valley youth for more than 50 years and continues to support student-athletes in southwestern Maricopa County.

In addition, the organization provides financial aid to local eighth graders promoting to high school, as well as provides a Christmas party for low-income families. The program thanked the city of Avondale, Rudolfo Brothers Masonry, R-Stucco, Coke and Walmart for their support.

Sanchez...continued from page 16

(I worried) I was going to go out irrelevant in my senior year for my cross-country season,” Sanchez said.

“But once you get on that line, and the competitive juices start flowing again, I was like, ‘Dang, I’m out of the boot. I have to go now. This is what I’m built for. This is showtime.’”

After such an incredible comeback, Sanchez was dealt an even tougher blow in March. His grandmother, Barbara Jo Mitchell, died less than a week shy of her 57th birthday at her Kansas home. She fought cancer for seven years.

Sanchez lived in Kansas until moving to Arizona in second grade. He said she supported him — before and after the move.

“When I was in Kansas, whenever I had a game, whether it was T-ball or just soccer at the rec center … she would always make the drive. She would always be there to cheer me on,” Sanchez said.

“She was a very competitive lady, so she instilled that competitive nature into me. She believed in me. (Even after we moved) she would always text me good luck before my big games.”

The senior year of high school can be tough for a lot of people as they prepare for their next steps in life. But even with all that was thrown his way, not to mention the pandemic, Sanchez said he will miss his time at Youngker — especially his running teammates.

“I love these dudes,” Sanchez said. “I know it’s cliché or whatever, but these guys are obviously more than teammates. These guys are brothers,” Sanchez said.

“It’s just been amazing to see the younger guys grow up with me, and the people in my class have grown up with me. It’s just been fun to watch them get so good.”

There is a lot for him to look back on, but he has his sights set on the future. WOU awaits him in the fall, and he said he couldn’t be more excited.

“I think Western Oregon has a lot of pretty places to run,” Sanchez said.

“In Arizona, it’s kind of difficult sometimes to get out of bed, like, ‘Hey, let’s go run in the morning,’ because you just run with dirt.”

He said he was impressed by his future team’s assistance with cleaning up after a storm during which tree branches fell.

“There, I’ll be able to push myself with those guys and work hard with those guys, and seeing them succeed is going to help me succeed, so that’s what I’m looking forward to,” Sanchez said.

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Endangered jaguar cubs born at Wildlife World Zoo

BY WEST VALLEY VIEW STAFF

Wildlife World Zoo, Aquarium & Safari Park recently announced the births of one melanistic and two spotted endangered jaguar cubs.

The Wildlife World staff is hand-raising the cubs. The youngsters have bottles of formula several times a day, and over the next few weeks, they will begin the transition to include meat in their diet.

Jaguars are the largest feline in the world and rank third in size behind lions and tigers. Males can grow to about 200 pounds and are known to have the strongest bite of any feline species. Their stocky build helps them climb with ease in their preferred rainforest habitat, enabling them to stalk and ambush prey. A sizable fraction of the population is black with black spots.

Jaguars have an extensive range throughout Central and South America and were once found throughout the desert Southwest, including Arizona. Recent sightings of a male in Arizona make that jaguar the only known one of its kind in the United States. Jaguars, an endangered species, face an uncertain future because of habitat loss and fragmentation. Many are killed because of increasing human-animal confl icts over space and resources. Habitat loss and degradation along with increased poaching remain the biggest threats to the feline’s survival.

With more than 600 species and 6,000 animals on display, there are always new arrivals at Wildlife World Zoo, Aquarium & Safari Park. Other babies on display include baby warthogs, tapir, giraffe, baby sable antelope, endangered addax, Arabian oryx and other youngsters throughout the 100acre park.

Wildlife World’s keepers and veterinarians have raised dozens of species of wild and endangered animals over the past quarter century. Wildlife World strives to maximize genetic diversity in the zoological population with its breeding programs.

The park is a USDA-licensed, private institution, accredited by the Zoological Association of America and the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks & Aquariums. Wildlife World Zoo does not use tax dollars to build or operate its facility.

One melanistic and two spotted endangered jaguar cubs were born at Wildlife World Zoo, Aquarium & Safari Park. (Photo courtesy of Wildlife World)

Wildlife World Zoo, Aquarium & Safari Park

16501 W. Northern Avenue, Litchfi eld Park 623-935-9453, wildlifeworld.com

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