Hilarie Sit, Melanie Reynoso and brothers Jordan and Steele Langland finished second in the seventh-and-eighth-grade junior varsity division to Egan Middle School students at the Scholastic Chess Championships, held April 16 and 17 at the Santa Clara Convention Center.
Out of 65 players, Steele placed third overall, Hilarie was fifth and Jordan was sixth.
In other tournaments at the championship, Emily Reynoso took home fifth in the fourth-and-sixth-grade rookie division. Emily’s brother, Jeremiah Reynoso, finished in first place of the first-through-third-grade rookie division.
Brothers Andrew, Abraham and Aaron Canafe also competed in the state tournament. Andrew, in the seventh-and-eighth-grade varsity section, won two of his six games. Abraham, in the fourth-and-fifth-grade varsity section, won his first two games, then lost three and recorded one draw. Aaron won three of his six games in the fourth-through-sixth-grade junior varsity division.
Sixth-grader Jack Li competed in the tournament’s highest section, the high school varsity (open) division, and beat two sophomores. Attie Sit started with a win, but lost in the second round. Attie’s twin, Echo, won three out of five games for a 15th-place trophy.
Second-grader Arvind Ragunathan tied for fourth place in the first-through-third-grade novice division. Out of five games, Arvind lost only in the second round and finished with three straight victories. Pranav Kakulamarri lost his first two games in the fourth-through-sixth-grade novice division, but also finished strong with three straight wins.
Freiler School’s Chess Club will host a scholastic chess tournament May 14, which is open to all kids up to high school age. Beginners are welcome, as long as they know the rules of chess. Participants will be separated into groups based on age and ability.
For information: www.tracychess.org.
Local real estate agent certified
Grace R. Alvarez, a Realtor with Century 21 M & M and Associates in Tracy, has obtained the nationally recognized Short Sale and Foreclosure Resource certification from the National Association of Realtors.
This SFR certification is offered to real estate professionals who provide to buyers and sellers their expertise in the often-difficult process of short-sale transactions.
Alvarez was born in Tracy and has been a licensed real estate agent in the area for more than 22 years.
Tracy man wins motorcycle lease
Shane Lautenslager was one of 10 motorcyclists selected for Victory Motorcycle’s True American Road Trip contest, from a pool of more than 350 people. Lautenslager will receive a free lease on a new Victory Cross Country motorcycle and will plan road trips starting in May, which he will document at www.trueamerican
roadtrip.com.
He plans to follow Highway 491 (formerly Highway 666) through New Mexico, stopping in Roswell and visiting Area 51, and take a trip in wine country, among other destinations.
Traina students earn kudos
Myriad Traina Elementary students have earned notice in recent local events. In the Whiz Kids competition, Barry Nehoran received second in seventh-and-eighth-grade spelling, third in eighth-grade speech, and third in eighth-grade writing. Effie Nehoran placed first in seventh-grade writing.
In the Science Olympiad, Traina’s Purple Team placed 14th out of 52 teams. Roy Nehoran and Kyle Koontz took home first place in Metric Mastery; Bill Yang, Chris Chen and Lillian Zhang finished fourth in the Science Bowl; Jack Petrin, Kiran Sekhon and Ashley Abalos were fifth in Mission Possible; in the Straw Egg Drop, Roy and Lillian placed fifth; Sandeep Kamboj and Sampreeth Salveru were ninth in Disease Detectives; Ray Nehoran was ninth in Pond Study; Roy and Kyle placed 10th in Barge Building; and Annie Chea and Kyle finished 11th in Get Your Bearing.
For Traina’s Yellow Team, Paneet Khaira, Sarah Sailors and Octavio Ramalho finished eighth in Mission Possible; Pedro Ribeiro and Octavio finished ninth in Get Your Bearing; and Pedro and Justin Malogan finished 11th in Barge Building. Overall, the Yellow Team placed 31st out of 52 teams.
Traina students read to win
Grit Walther’s fifth-grade class at Traina Elementary took first place in the Comcast Reading Challenge for being the top readers during the month of February.
Fifth-grade students from Modesto, Stockton and Tracy competed. Traina was awarded $1,000, and Walther received $500 for her classroom. Walther’s students received $20 gift cards for Barnes & Noble Booksellers.
Boy Scouts at Boys State
Tracy High’s Brooks Jelinek and West High’s Trevor Lewis will attend the American Legion California Boys State 2010, a summer leadership, citizenship and government instruction conference from June 19 to 26 in Sacramento.
Brooks and Trevor are sponsored by the American Legion’s James McDermott Post No. 172 in Tracy and are both members of Tracy’s Boy Scout Troop 525, which has the distinction of having had five Scouts attend Boys State since 2006.
West junior earns Stanford internship
West High School junior Gabriella Herrera has been selected as a 2010 summer intern at Stanford University.
Gabriella will conduct eight weeks of research at Stanford’s Neuroscience Institute and will receive a $1,500 stipend.
On May 19, she will be presented with the Outstanding Achievement in Mathematics Award at Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore. On March 22, Gabriella received the Outstanding Athlete Award presented by the West High School Homefield Advantage Athletic Booster Club.
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