Press
Get to Know the First and 100th Registered Athletes
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
By Hollie Smith
The Utah Summer Games gives a great variety of athletes the opportunity to train hard and come together for some fun and great competition in the sports they love. The range of athletes is immense. Competitors can be children or senior citizens and everything in between. The variety of athletes can be easily seen when looking at the 1st and 100th athletes that registered for the 2006 games.
David Meine was the very first athlete to register this year. Meine traditionally competes in the triathlon, but decided to try his hand at something new this year – tennis. He has been doing triathlons for 6 years, but took up tennis in September with his wife and has “fallen in love” with the sport. Since starting tennis he’s become the captain of a winter tennis team. Meine will be competing in singles and doubles with his wife as his partner.
“We thought it would be fun because we’d get to be together, whereas in the triathlon we’d never see each other,” he said.
Meine’s wife is no stranger to triathlons and competitions either. Two years ago she made the U.S. triathlon team and went to World competition in New Zealand. The Meine’s athleticism was apparently passed down to their 7 kids. They have children involved in triathlons, marathons, tennis, wakeboarding, skiing and snowboarding.
Meine and his wife train 3 hours a day, 6 days a week. Along with training and having a family, they find the time to own and run their own business in Salt Lake City.
Meine said one thing he likes about competing in the Utah Summer Games is he gets to meet so many new people.
“It just like meeting people from all different walks of life,” he said.
The 100th athlete is definitely at a different stage in life than the first. Brenna Porter is an eleven-year-old fifth grader that loves to play soccer. She’s been playing soccer for 5 years and loves her team.
“My team is a really good team and it’s really fun to exercise,” she said.
Her mom signed her up for her first soccer team in first grade and she really liked it. Her coach suggested that she tried out for a competitive team and now she plays for the state team.
It’s tough for Porter to find time to do everything she wants to do with school, family and sports. She said she’s careful to plan things so she can make it to all her practices while still having time to be with her family.
“Sometimes it hard when you have practices late and you need to do homework,” she said.
Porter said it’s all worth it when she’s on the field. She dreams of being soccer player or a schoolteacher when she grows up.
The Utah Summer Games is the state’s oldest and largest Olympic-style sports festival and encourages athletes of all ages and skill levels to compete in sports like Swimming, Track & Field and Skateboarding.
Labels: History
