It has been fun to follow a trio of Hemet High alums – golf pro Brendan Steele, mountain bike star Zachary Valdez and NFL prospect Tevita Stevens – as they progress this month. Last weekend, Steele, a 2001 alum from Idyllwild who is playing well on the PGA Tour, finished fifth in the Travelers Championship in Connecticut, pocketing $235,600. That pushes his winnings to $1,029,073 for 2014 with a lot of golf left to play this year. After Friday’s second round of the Quicken Loans National in Maryland, he was in a tie for 13th place. Last Sunday, Valdez, a 2010 graduate, won the state championship pro division in Big Bear after riding and studying for the past school year at Brevard College in North Carolina. Stevens, who graduated as a Bulldog in 2005, is on the 90-man training-camp roster for the Washington Redskins. He is training in Hemet and Utah to compete to make the team in upcoming NFL season. Last season, he was on the Redskins practice team after a stellar career as a center at the University of Utah. All three of the athletes remain humble, polite and friendly despite their success on the national scene. Steele turned me into a golf fan. After a blistering opening day-round in the Travelers, he found himself in first at the top leaderboard. He was on national television a lot over the weekend. One fun fact about Steele is that he grew up in Idyllwild, a mountain town without a golf course. He was a star on now retired Doug Oldham’s strong Hemet High teams. He excelled at UC Riverside before turning pro. He is competing for the third year at the highest level, the PGA Tour. He now lives in Orange County. I got in touch with him via Facebook after last week’s strong finish that was boosted by his four-under-par final round. “I’m happy with the season overall, but you always feel you do better,” he wrote. “I feel like I’m starting to put it all together, so hopefully there is a lot more to come.” I tracked down Valdez while he was camping in Carlsbad after his big Sunday win. He made the decision to attend college and compete in road and mountain bike races rather than keep on riding full time as a pro. He is studying to become a teacher. In a college sport sanctioned by USA Cycling, he finished first in Division 2 for Brevard in short-course and cross-county mountain bike racing. “I am focusing on school more. It’s really an awesome opportunity,” he said. Stevens was signed by the Washington Redskins as a free agent immediately after the 2013 draft. He just returned home from offseason training camp in Virginia. This year, he hopes to play. He also could wind up on the practice team or be cut. “It‘s been such an exciting and fun time for me thus far,” he wrote in a Facebook message. “I am truly loving every minute of this experience and am just grateful with the opportunities God has blessed me with.” All three stories are to be continued. It will be fun to watch their progress. CONTACT THE WRITER: [email protected] or 951-368-9078
Hemet alumni compete nationally
It has been fun to follow a trio of Hemet High alums – golf pro Brendan Steele, mountain bike star Zachary Valdez and NFL prospect Tevita Stevens – as they progress this month. Last weekend, Steele, a 2001 alum from Idyllwild who is playing well on the PGA Tour, finished fifth in the Travelers Championship in Connecticut, pocketing $235,600. That pushes his winnings to $1,029,073 for 2014 with a lot of golf left to play this year. After Friday’s second round of the Quicken Loans National in Maryland, he was in a tie for 13th place. Last Sunday, Valdez, a 2010 graduate, won the state championship pro division in Big Bear after riding and studying for the past school year at Brevard College in North Carolina. Stevens, who graduated as a Bulldog in 2005, is on the 90-man training-camp roster for the Washington Redskins. He is training in Hemet and Utah to compete to make the team in upcoming NFL season. Last season, he was on the Redskins practice team after a stellar career as a center at the University of Utah. All three of the athletes remain humble, polite and friendly despite their success on the national scene. Steele turned me into a golf fan. After a blistering opening day-round in the Travelers, he found himself in first at the top leaderboard. He was on national television a lot over the weekend. One fun fact about Steele is that he grew up in Idyllwild, a mountain town without a golf course. He was a star on now retired Doug Oldham’s strong Hemet High teams. He excelled at UC Riverside before turning pro. He is competing for the third year at the highest level, the PGA Tour. He now lives in Orange County. I got in touch with him via Facebook after last week’s strong finish that was boosted by his four-under-par final round. “I’m happy with the season overall, but you always feel you do better,” he wrote. “I feel like I’m starting to put it all together, so hopefully there is a lot more to come.” I tracked down Valdez while he was camping in Carlsbad after his big Sunday win. He made the decision to attend college and compete in road and mountain bike races rather than keep on riding full time as a pro. He is studying to become a teacher. In a college sport sanctioned by USA Cycling, he finished first in Division 2 for Brevard in short-course and cross-county mountain bike racing. “I am focusing on school more. It’s really an awesome opportunity,” he said. Stevens was signed by the Washington Redskins as a free agent immediately after the 2013 draft. He just returned home from offseason training camp in Virginia. This year, he hopes to play. He also could wind up on the practice team or be cut. “It‘s been such an exciting and fun time for me thus far,” he wrote in a Facebook message. “I am truly loving every minute of this experience and am just grateful with the opportunities God has blessed me with.” All three stories are to be continued. It will be fun to watch their progress. CONTACT THE WRITER: [email protected] or 951-368-9078