This senior at Pioneer Valley High School is finishing up his last track and field season and is going out in style.
Andy Pinon has been involved in sports since he was in elementary school.
“A lot of my friends were involved in sports so I decided to try and in high school I began track and field and football and I loved it because it was a lot of fun. I’ve been doing it ever since,” Pinon said.
His coach Teresa Cavaletto and fellow athletes see Pinon as a team player.
“He has been a really hard worker and next week is the division preliminaries where, if he gets into the top nine out of all four divisions, he will go onto masters,” Cavaletto said. “If he gets that far he will be the first track and field athlete in Pioneer Valley history to make it that far.”
Cavaletto said she is very excited for him to get a chance to be recognized for his abilities.
Pinon is not only involved in track and field, but also varsity football. His love of sports has made an impact on his life in many ways, and continues to influence him today.
“My motivation for reaching my highest in sports is to just keep at it and enjoy having fun while doing it,” Pinon said.
When asked what his hardest challenge was during the sports season, he said: “It’s always been challenging to try and maintain a 3.8 GPA and still do sports at the same time.”
In the fall, Pinon will be running track for UC Santa Barbara, something he is very excited about. Pinon said he plans to take the sport as far as it will go, and have a great time while doing it.
This article appears in May 21-28, 2009.