Napa Valley Marathon awards scholarships to student-athletes

By Marty James

NOTES AND QUOTES for a Saturday in the Napa Valley:

The board of directors of the Napa Valley Marathon recently presented 12 scholarship awards totaling $6,000 to student-athletes from five Napa County high schools.

The recipients were selected based on their athletic accomplishments and citizenship. The awards were announced by Jeffrey Glathe, the scholarship committee chairman who works as the dean of academic intervention at Napa High School, and Dave Hill, one of the race directors for the marathon.

Each student received a $500 community-based scholarship.

Awards were presented to Catherine Kensok, Tyler Hansell and Ted Doshier of Napa High; Robin Pisor, Dylan Buterbaugh and Miguel Tellez of Vintage; Maya Wills and Kevin Cardey of Justin-Siena; Katharine Wignall and Tristan Cole of St. Helena; and Martha Ayala and Alejandro Ruiz of Calistoga.

“The kids give back to us by participating and trying their hardest in sports while also representing their schools and communities,” said Glathe.

The Kaiser Permanente Napa Valley Marathon is an annual 26.2-mile race from Calistoga to Napa that is held on the first Sunday of March. Dedicated to fostering and promoting quality road racing, the NVM is known as the “biggest little marathon in the West.”

The race has earned a reputation for outstanding runner support, attention to detail, and a scenic point-to-point course. In its January 2002 issue, Runner’s World Magazine named the Napa Valley Marathon as one of the Top 20 Marathons in the U.S.

Competitor Magazine named it the “Best Rural Marathon” in the country.

This year’s race was once again selected by the Road Runners Club of America as its National Marathon Championship.

The race is limited to the first 2,300 runners to register.

More information about the race can be found at napavalleymarathon.org.

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Richard Hoppe, a Robert Louis Stevenson Middle School graduate who will start St. Helena High in the fall, was the first recipient of the Al Carpy/Bimmer Sculatti Athletic-Academic Award.

Carpy founded the Carpy Gang, St. Helena’s youth football program, which dates back to 1936.

Sculatti, who passed away in April of 2008, volunteered his services as a coach for youth sports for more than 40 years, including his work with the Carpy Gang.

Hoppe, the son of St. Helena Unified School District athletic director Tom Hoppe, has been involved in football (Carpy Gang), basketball (RLS, Optimist Prep League, Short Shooters) and baseball (St. Helena Little League, Napa Babe Ruth League).

The award was presented on June 10.

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David Carroll and Frank Abbott of Silverado Resort shot 70-75-70 — 215 and finished in a tie for 14th at the Northern California Golf Association Senior Four-Ball Championship at Poppy Hills.

The 11th annual event wrapped up Wednesday.

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Organizers of Thursday’s Save Mart 350 Golf Tournament, sponsored by Save Mart Supermarkets and held at the Chardonnay Golf Club, were hopeful of raising more than $100,000 for the Save Mart CARES (Community, Arts, Recreation, Education, Sports) charitable organization.

Approximately 300 partners, vendors and employees were to participate in the tournament, held the day before the kickoff of the Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR weekend at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma.

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Anna Jelmini of Shafter High School was named as the 2008-09 Gatorade California Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year.

Jelmini won the discus and shot put at the CIF state meet this season, leading the Generals to fourth place as a team.

Jelmini has signed a national letter-of-intent to compete in track on a scholarship at Arizona State in the fall.

E-mail Executive Sports Editor Marty James at mjames @napanews.com or call 256-2223.

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