Junior Olympians

More than 400 La Jolla elementary school students vied in track and field events at the 16th annual La Jolla Kiwanis Club-sponsored Junior Olympics held Saturday, May 19 at La Jolla High School’s Edwards Stadium. This year, two new private schools, Stella Maris Academy and The Evans School, joined students from the Gillispie School and Bird Rock, La Jolla and Torrey Pines elementary schools to compete in softball throw, obstacle course, broad jump and track events.

Event organizers were La Jolla Kiwanian Carl Volinski and his wife Jeanine of La Jolla Insurance Services. Winners of the Fastest Boys and Fastest Girls relay teams were both from Bird Rock Elementary. The Fastest Boy and Fastest Girl in La Jolla were Connor Hayden, 11, and Nadia Ivanov, 11, both of Bird Rock Elementary. The SPIRIT trophy award, given to the school with the highest percentage of students participating was Bird Rock Elementary School.

Richard “Moon” Mullen, event creator and school liaison for Kiwanis, was an event announcer.

La Jolla Kiwanis is a non-profit community service organization that raises money for charitable causes, many youth-oriented, through annual fund-raising special events like the La Jolla Half Marathon and the Kiwanis pancake breakfast, as well as concession sales from the September Rough Water Swim at the Cove.