Before her 18th birthday, Marrield Berry lost her father to suicide, watched her mother fight heavy personal problems and lived in foster homes, children's shelters and on the street.
``Everything that happened in my life was a gift. I wouldn't be who I am today without all that stuff happening,'' said Berry, who graduated from Santa Teresa High School with a 3.83 grade-point average.
Today, Berry is an accomplished student-athlete who will run cross-country at UC-Santa Cruz this fall. She is one of nine Santa Clara County graduated seniors who received scholarships for overcoming adversity through sports from the Charlie Wedemeyer Family Outreach Scholarship and the San Jose Sports Authority REACH Youth Scholarship.
The winners and nominees dealt with family illnesses, economic and personal hardships, and losses to excel in the classroom and playing fields.
In the eighth grade, Berry realized that running could be therapeutic. Before then, she vented by cutting her arms.
``I remember having all this anger and not knowing what to do,'' Berry said. ``I just went and ran as far as I could. Ever since then, I was like, that's a pretty good way to get out my anger. I don't have to do anything crazy.''
Berry never had time to think about her personal life; she was always too busy with something else. She balanced classwork, sports and the school band while working (two jobs at one point during cross-country season to help her mother pay the rent).
``If there is anybody who should have had excuses, she is at the head of the pack,'' said Mike Dudley, Berry's track and cross-country coach. ``Instead, she is taking on challenges, and this is her way to never go back to those deep, dark places.''
Berry's family has struggled financially, her entire life, though lack of money was not an issue on the track. Berry eventually took her running to a higher level with the help of Dudley, who helped her financially with shoes and running gear.
Berry became the consummate student-athlete, emerging as her team's top runner. As a senior she qualified for the Central Coast Section cross-country championships, as an individual and with her team.
``She has been through hell and back and has come out stronger,'' Dudley said. ``That's what makes me most proud of her.''
Berry said most of the teachers at Santa Teresa were sympathetic to her situation. Lack of money was the reason she stopped participating in the band.
``My teachers would yell at me because I didn't have a reed for my instrument,'' Berry said. `` `You can't play with that reed, it's broken. You need to go buy one. They're only $5.'
``Five dollars! I can buy lunch for a week with $5. What do you mean it's only $5?''
Berry is back living with her mother, who recently saved enough money to take her to Hawaii as a graduation present.
Berry plans to study English, pediatrics or law and eventually run an adoption program.
Jaime Uriarte,
San Jose High Academy
As the top winner of the San Jose Sports Authority REACH Youth Scholarship, Uriarte was awarded $2,500 and two round-trip tickets on Southwest Airlines. He is using the freebies to fly to his freshman orientation at San Diego State.
``We weren't sure the car would make it,'' said Laura Uriarte, Jaime's mom.
Jaime, his mother and his sister have endured a tough road. After being evicted from their home, the family stayed in hotels and motels while making ends meet. Some nights, they slept in the car. There were days when Uriarte did not know where home would be.
But he forgot about his personal life by burying himself in schoolwork and athletics. He excelled in International Baccalaureate classes, which require a minimum grade-point average of 3.4. He was a top player on the football team and earned all-league honors three times. He was voted the team's most valuable player twice and captain three times.
Although he was accepted by Michigan State and Oregon, his desire to play football led him to San Diego State, where he hopes to walk on. Uriarte was chosen to play in the upcoming Charlie Wedemeyer all-star football game, and his family now has a home through a low-income housing program.
Ngoan Phan and
Gilbert Rosales, Willow Glen
There was a time when Phan and Rosales never imagined themselves as college students. The two friends overcame an array of obstacles to find their path to San Jose City College.
Phan's family suffered under the communist regime in Vietnam before immigrating to the United States when he was in the seventh grade. His father endured five years of torture in a Viet Cong prison camp. His older brother was murdered by gunfire from a Viet Cong helicopter. Phan missed much of elementary school while working in watermelon and potato fields. His mother was stricken with cancer.
Phan says the toughest things about being in a new country were learning the language and having no friends.
But the soft-spoken boy was determined to succeed.
``Much of his commitment was giving back to his parents,'' said Willow Glen cross-country coach Victor Santamaria. ``He knew how hard his parents worked to get the family here. I met him in ninth grade, and he was immediately our No. 1 runner.''
Rosales was born in Mexico and moved to San Jose with his mother and sister. The family has struggled to find affordable housing and has moved 11 times during Gilbert's four years of high school.
As a freshman, Rosales exhibited behavioral problems that almost led to his being kicked out of school. But it was while in P.E. class with Santamaria that Rosales' life took a turn for the better.
``He had a very fluid stride, and that's rare,'' Santamaria said. ``I was interested in getting him on the team. He would never come out, never come out. Eventually, toward the end of summer, he came to train. That's when I found out he was failing just about every class.''
Once Rosales spent some time training, he was hooked. From that point he made every grade check and became a team captain by his senior year. Rosales and Phan played key roles in helping Willow Glen win a league championship.
``I'm very thankful they both came my way,'' Santamaria said. ``They helped build a strong program here and the young freshmen idolize these guys.''
Giulietta Pezzaniti, Willow Glen
Although Pezzaniti was born with an abnormal nerve in her heart and diagnosed with the rarest type of supraventricular tachycardia -- a form of heart arrhythmia -- she never let it slow her down. That did not mean there were no risks involved in playing sports such as tennis and basketball: When Pezzaniti's heart rate was too high, she was rushed to the hospital and injected with a medicine that traveled painfully through her body. She basically got sick once a week.
``With sports I was able to pretty much keep my mind off it. I was always so stressed out about being sick,'' said Pezzaniti, who will attend Cal. ``Playing sports enabled me to relieve myself from that stress and have fun and meet new people.''
During the fall and winter of 2002, Pezzaniti was at the hospital every two weeks meeting with cardiologists and specialists, all the while feeling the stress of keeping up with her schoolwork. She was told by doctors that she needed surgery and could no longer play basketball.
The procedure has improved her condition, though she still has some complications.
``I didn't let my sickness set me back,'' said Pezzaniti, who also won a good-citizen scholarship from the Daughters of the American Revolution. ``I'm still able to do most of the sports. I just have to watch it a little bit.''
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