Second-year student Zora Williams is using her voice to bring more mental health and nutrition programming to San Diego Mesa College. Williams was elected president of the college’s Associated Students (AS) for the 2024-2025 academic year and serves as the college’s student representative on the San Diego Community College District Board of Trustees.
Sometimes, you hear a story that makes you want to know more. Kevin Gonzalez has such a story. The last time this story was updated, San Diego Mesa College student Kevin Gonzalez was a 15 year-old heading off to Massachusetts to complete his high school education. In the ensuing years, he has travelled to the other side of the world, built houses, but remained in close contact with his Mesa College professors and connections he made while on campus.
The San Diego Community College District has appointed four new student trustees for the upcoming academic year. Dalia Ramirez (San Diego City College), Zora Williams (San Diego Mesa College), Hailey Hua (San Diego Miramar College), and Haydee Zuniga (San Diego College of Continuing Education), will be sworn in during the June 20 SDCCD Board of Trustees meeting.
May 8, 2017
San Diego Mesa College beach volleyball first team duo Kat Wright and Flavia Virgili came in third place out of 32 teams in the California Community College Athletic Association State Championships May 6-7.
“I think that they both have really bought into each other and they’re ultra-competitive – every game, they continue to get better and better," Head Coach Kim Lester said of the duo. “They are just amazing fighters on the beach – they just want to win, they want to compete, they want to do their best and they have great chemistry as a pair.”
Assistant beach volleyball coach Andy Stucke added that Virgili and Wright’s athleticism is a key factor that advanced them to the state championships.
“I think it’s a combination of their work ethic and athleticism, and they’re mentally tough,” Stucke said. “When they’re in their element, they’re very dynamic and with how athletic they are, it literally makes them one of the top teams in the state. When they’re ‘in their system’ they’re pretty impressive.”
Kinesiology major Wright – a sophomore with a 3.7 GPA – has already received offers
to transfer to California Polytechnic State University and San Francisco State University
for the fall 2017 semester. She previously played indoor volleyball for two years
at Southwestern College, but says that indoor and beach volleyball are almost like
two different sports.
“With indoor, you depend on one another more as a unit, as opposed to on the beach it’s just you and your partner,” Wright said. “There’s no coaching during the game and it’s more personal between you two, and you really have to build that partnership.”
Psychology major Virgili – another sophomore with a 3.5 GPA – plans to transfer to
a four-year school next semester and has had offers from California State University,
San Bernardino; Colorado State University-Pueblo; Clemson University and the University
of North Florida. She grew up in Rome playing volleyball since she was 12 years old,
and began playing for Mesa when she moved to the United States from Italy two years
ago.
“In the beginning Kat and I had this really good talk about our weaknesses and our strengths, and I think we really worked hard to continue to do well at the things we do well, and the things that we didn’t, we just tried to work at.” Virgili said. “If I would have an off day, then she would support me, and I would support her on other days, too.”
The beach volleyball team finished in fifth place with a record 3-9 in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference – and a record of 11-12 overall in the CCCAA – this spring.
“Overall this season we had a very strong beginning, but we do play in the toughest conference right now,” Lester said. “I think this team is one of my favorites that we’ve had here. The team culture and the way these girls get along is amazing, and they’ve made it a really good experience the way they have bought into our program and everything we believe in as coaches.”
For more information about women’s beach volleyball at Mesa College, contact Head Coach Kim Lester at (619) 388-2275 or via email at klester@sdccd.edu.
Tags: Volleyball, Athletics
Jennifer Nichols Kearns
Director of Communications
jnkearns@sdccd.edu
(619) 388-2759
Kim Lester
Head Coach - Beach Volleyball
klester@sdccd.edu
(619)388-2275
San Diego –On Monday, July 22 to Thursday, July 25, 2024, the San Diego Mesa College Softball program and Nike’s US Sports Camp program will host a half day and day camp for local girls, ages 6-14, at all levels of experience with Softball. Campers will learn the skills required to successfully play at a competitive level and maximize their potential as players.
San Diego, CA. — It is with great sadness and deep regret that San Diego Mesa College announces the passing of one of the greatest long jumpers in history, Arnie Robinson, at the age of 72. Arnie Paul Robinson, Jr. had a nearly life-long connection to Mesa College as a student, a coach and a Distinguished Alumni Award Recipient. He lived in San Diego and began his track career as a stand-out athlete at Morse High School. In 1967, he enrolled at Mesa College, where he set school records in the long jump, high jump, and triple jump for track and field.
Troy Cristobal is the winner of this year’s 2020 Mesa Scholarship President’s Award, given annually to a deserving Mesa College student who demonstrates leadership and academic excellence in their undergraduate career. Troy is a worthy recipient on both counts, having served as team captain for Mesa’s track and field team since the spring of 2019, and set to graduate this May as an Engineering major with a cumulative 4.0 GPA.
