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Lopez wants to go the distance

Tammara Green/writer@qvpr.com
Nov. 17, 2011

Manuel Lopez is running toward his college goal.

Manuel “Manny” Lopez has a dream, and he’s been running toward it since he was a student at Quincy Junior High.

With a little help from his mentor and former cross country coach, Ruth Royer, and his mother, Maria Lopez, he sprinted off into the right direction and kept on going. Since his interest for running started, he kept working at his sport and finally made captain of cross-country team at Quincy High School this year as a senior.

“I like running. I enjoy being out there doing something others don’t want to do. It’s peaceful, you can do it any time of the year and it doesn’t cost anything.” Lopez has also found immense inspiration in John Heikkila, who began running marathons again when he took the coaching position at QHS. “Since he started, he runs multiple marathons each year. When I go to college, I want to run a half-marathon,” said Lopez.

It was not surprising that his senior project included some sort of running. For his project, Lopez decided to organize this year’s Great Pumpkin Chase, which took place Oct. 15. He was also required to apply for a scholarship to pay for the T-shirts to be given out to the participants. Before the race, Lopez filled out his application, asking for approximately $450 to cover the cost of the shirts. “Anything that is left over goes back to the school and the charity called Extended Family,” said Lopez. Extended Family is an organization which helps out single-parent families. Lopez was drawn to this charity, as he and his two sisters grew up in a single parent home, raised by their mother, Maria.

Lopez filled out applications for Gonzaga and Eastern Washington University. His goal is to major in Physical Education, and teach P.E., as well as to obtain his certification for private training. When Manny isn’t running, he is playing basketball. His sisters also play and are on the women’s team at Big Bend. He looks forward to using the leadership and time management skills he used to organize the Great Pumpkin Chase when he is at college next year. Right now his mother is preparing him for going out into the world by teaching him to cook. “My mother brought me up and taught me to succeed. I was thinking of her when I thought up the slogan ‘You taught me to walk and now I can run’ to go on the T-shirts for the race,” said Lopez. He is thankful for his mother, who was supportive of him during the race, and helped him with any questions he had when he was at home working on his project.

In his 18 years in the Quincy Valley, Lopez enjoyed knowing the students he grew up with since kindergarten, as well as the parents. “The stuff you do matters to people around here. They take interest in it,” he said.