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Mira Costa junior Isabelle Connor competes in the 2017 regional championships on April 30, 2017 with the ribbon apparatus. Connor trained for this competition by attending four hour practices after school at the Los Angeles School of Gymnastics.

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1. Mira Costa junior Isabelle Connor competes in the Grand Prix in Kiev, Ukraine in level ten rhythmic gymnastics. Connor has trained in Ukraine four times over the past year and will be traveling there in the fall to continue her training.

2. Connor competes in the national qualifiers for rhythmic gymnastics at the Lake Placid Olympic Training Center in New York. Connor qualified in the top 17 in the country and will be competing at Nationals at the end of June. 

3. Connor competes against other level ten rhythmic gymnasts at the regional competition with the ball apparatus. Connor trained for these competitions with three to four hour practices each day of the week.

4. Connor places with a silver medal at the Salut Cup in Canada on April 29th and 30th. Connor is placed 14th in the country and is preparing for nationals where she hopes to place in the top eight to qualify for the national team.

5. Connor exercises her flexibility for an hour before practice by doing the splits in between two mats. Connor started rhythmic gymnastics when she was in fourth grade and will be continuing with the sport in her senior year of high school.

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Wymbs talks about her dancing experiences and how she continues to work hard and push herself so she can achieve her goals in the future. Wymbs started dancing at an early age but started taking it seriously around the age of ten.

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1. Artist RJ Pacheco performs his singles “Who Really” and “How We Rockin” at Locke High School on April 28. Dancers Olivia Wymbs and Josh Korkin backed up Pacheco, rehearsing for the show 2 days in advance.

2.  Korkin, Pacheco and Wymbs pose for a photo after the performance. They got this opportunity through a nonprofit organization called The School Tour Performances, which encourages kids interested in being in the entertainment industry to achieve their goals. 

3. Wymbs and a fellow dancer from Debbie Allen Dance Academy back up dance for a Chinese pop singer, Sun Nan, at a Chinese New Year Event. Wymbs has been dancing since she was 2 and trains 20 to 30 hours a week.

4. Wymbs and fellow dancers from the Debbie Allen Dance Academy practice the “Chinese Scene” for the Debbie Allen Dance Academy’s annual “Hot Chocolate Nutcracker” in 2016. Wymbs has been featured in many of the Academy’s productions.

5. Wymbs and Mira Costa seniors Katie Cochran and Daisy Hummer perform in the Mira Costa Dance Team’s annual Lip Sync competition. They won best choreography with their Byoncé piece. 

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Panitz talks of how he got into acting, his favorite roles he has been casted as, and his plans for the future. Panitz is not currently on a job but he hopes to potentially go back to acting, Panitz said.

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Tavai speaks of his experience in London, his possible plans for the future and his gratefulness for the outpouring of support from the community donating money for him to go to London. Tavai’s parents have pushed him and his brothers to constantly improve and he would like to thank them for their rigor, Tavai said.

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Photos courtesy of Ty Panitz

1. Panitz starrs in over 20 television shows, movies and commercials. He started acting at the age of five, being casted as Ethan in “Yours, Mine & Ours” from a walk in audition.

2. Panitz plays the role of Ethan in the movie “Yours, Mine & Ours” as his first acting job. Panitz has now been acting for 12 years, though he has not currently been casted for an acting role.

3. Panitz plays Lionel in the 2007 movie “Because I Said So” with Diane Keaton and Mandy Moore. Once he started building is reputation in the industry he was able to help his family members transition into acting as well.

4. Panitz is casted to play the role of Parker Booth in the Fox TV series “Bones.” The show ran for 9 years and Panitz played his role in each season.

5. Panitz’s first headshots used for his casting into various jobs. Panitz dedicated most of his time as a child to the acting industry, but does not regret doing so because of the decline it taught him, Panitz said. 

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1. Photo courtesy of Tavai’s GoFundMe: Tavai overreaches his goal of 2,000 dollars within three days to travel to London to play in a tournament with the Rhinos Rugby Club. The team won all of their games against three of the top teams in high school level rugby.

2. Photo courtesy of costarugby.com: Tavai accepts a medal for being the “Gamebreaker” in the 2016 Mira Costa State Championship win. He played the game even with having a shoulder strain.

3. Photo courtesy of costarugby.com: Tavai is currently playing for five rugby teams in the Los Angeles area and is hoping to possibly pursue the sport in college. “If there are colleges here who want me on their team I am all for it but if not I will take a different route,” Tavai said.

4. Photo courtesy of the Easy Reader: (Tavai sen second from the left) The Los Angeles Rugby Club celebrates after winning the Plate Championships at the Southern California Youth Rugby 7s Tournament. Tavai played up a level because of his experience and talent.

5. Photo courtesy of the Beach Reporter: Tavai stands next to his older brother Justus, who also played rugby at Mira Costa and graduated in 2016. Tavai had a successful season, making his five other brothers proud.

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Photos Courtesy of Delaney Kluth

1. “What love about being in the group is having the ability to make music with some of my closest friends and building upon my musical skills,” Alonso said. “It’s a blast.” Alonso has been in multiple bands and now makes beats and writes songs for their group. 2. “I first got together with Nick one day and we started making a song and when word got out more people wanted partake in it,” Hillebrand said. “Now we are making songs and posting them on our individual Soundcloud's for anyone to listen to.” Hillebrand writes lyrics and raps them to the beats he creates to produce his songs. 3. “When we come together and record a song it's an amazing feeling to have accomplished something your proud of with your friends,” Thue said. He used to play the saxophone when he was in middle school. He gets his inspiration for his lyrics from his faith as a Christian. 4. Alonso, Hillebrand, and Thue are all part of the music group “SB Gang,” and they produce their own hip hop tracks. They currently have out 3 songs and meet periodically to produce them together.

5. “SB Gang” uses Garage Band and a mic to record their beats and raps. They combined each member’s lyrics to produce the songs they have out currently.

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Frankie Hillebrand, Nick Alonso, and Preston Thue talk about their goals for their music group “SB Gang.” The group has released two singles and will be releasing four more in the near future.

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Mira Costa English teacher Cameron Chow and students participate in Lake Elsinore Spartan Race on January 28. The students trained prior to the event with coaching from Chow.  

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Mira Costa alumni talks about his experience coaching and being in the Olympics. He competed for the United States in the 1988 Olympics.

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1. Mira Costa alumni Jeff Atkinson races for Costa in cross country. He broke the two mile record at Costa in track his senior year.

2. Jeff Atkinson rides on his shag carpet skateboard with his son. They have been sold in surf shops around the South Bay.

3. Atkinson races in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. He placed tenth place for the United States in the 1500.

4. Atkinson races for Costa in a three mile cross country race. He started running in the summer leading up to his freshman year.

5. Atkinson runs with his students while coaching them in an annual night workout on the Mira Costa track. After retiring as a professional runner, he came back to coach students, first coaching at Palos Verdes and then switching to Costa in 2015.

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1. Mira Costa teacher Cameron Chow and students pass through their final obstacle to the finish line. The eight mile course consisted of 25 obstacles.

2. The team smiles after completing the race. They had to work together to finish the obstacles. 

3. The team climbs up the wall as their final obstacle. They helped one another at the top to pull each other over.

4. The team trudges through freezing cold, muddy water as their second to last obstacle. To finish, they had to get willing to soak themselves in the water.

5. Chow and team climbs over the wall and races to the finish line, placed after the fire. They challenged themselves and completed the race.

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Courtesy of MAC Junior Rowing

The Marina Aquatic Center Junior Rowing team (MAC) attends the National Rowing Championships on June 10 in West Windsor, New Jersey. The team qualified for nationals by taking 3rd at the Southwest Regionals on Lake Natoma in Gold River, California on May 6th.

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Photo courtesy of publicdomainpictures.net

Mira Costa seniors Tera Delk and Claire Barone participate in a mission trip in San Francisco with their youth group at the Journey of Faith church. They served the San Francisco community by providing meals for the homeless and praying for their safety and well-being.

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Mira Costa junior Nick Keenan hikes to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa. Keenan prepared for this hike by getting acclimated to high altitudes prior to this event.