By Daniel Torres
The game changer (Stephanie Holland / Editor in Chief)
By Daniel Torres
This year has been an incredible year for Riverside City College athletics.
The men’s basketball team has captured the state championship.
Members of the swim and tennis teams made it all the way to the state championships.
Several of the football players were offered scholarships to highly respected schools.
The fastpitch team ended in seventh place in the state championships, despite being the underdog through most of the journey, and the track and field team repeated for a second straight state title.
All of this and we’re not even midway through the year.
RCC has now another champion to cheer for.
This champion is golfer Kendall Jenkins.
He came in first at the California Community College State Men’s Golf Championship.
Jenkins, 22, became the first individual golf champion in RCC history.
Jenkins shot a total of 140 for the day.
Scott Sexton of Cypress College, Alton Anderson of Ventura, and Tom Richardson of Fresno City tied Jenkins’ overall score, but the award was given to Jenkins because he had shot the lowest of everyone during the final round with a 67.
Jenkins was able to win the title despite falling behind five shots going into the second round.
“I always try to keep my focus on which ever hole I’m on.” said Jenkins.
“If I bogeyed on the previous hole, I tell myself it’s already in the past and move on,” he said.
Jenkins said he didn’t know how to react when he won.
The feeling didn’t sink in until a couple of days later when people found out and began to congratulate him.
The championship was held at the Sierra View Country Club in Roseville on May 11.
Jenkins wasn’t familiar much with the course, but the practice game held before the tournament really aided in his success.
Jenkins began playing golf at the age of 15 in high school.
He then quit after high school and then started playing again about a year ago.
He looks up to his father and grandfather because they are fans of the game and have always supported him through everything.
There is an old adage that says “out of darkness comes light.”
Jenkins was certainly the light that came out of the dark season the golf team experienced this year.
The Riverside golf team went 0-16 this season failing to win neither a conference match nor a tournament.
“I thought we could win this year,” Jenkins said. “It was really disappointing.”
Besides a nice medal as well as bragging rights, Jenkins gained a heap of confidence from this win.
“I definitely feel much more confident now, especially since I’ve only been back playing golf one year,” he said.
When asked what advice he would give to new golfers, he simply said, “If you work hard enough, you can do anything.”
Jenkins plans to stay another year at RCC before hopefully transferring with a golf scholarship to either the University of Southern California or Arizona State University.
