EL CENTRO –  The San Diego and Imperial Small Business Development Center (SBDC) awarded one lucky young adult $2,000 toward staring a business. Aikel Franks presented his business plan for a custom videography business, focusing on Imperial Valley events, community events, and commercials for Valley businesses.

Five finalists out of around 12 young adults participated in the SBDC Young Entrepreneurship Academy this summer. The youths ranged from 17 to 22 years of age.

“I want to recognize the hard work and commitment,” said Viridiana Rosales-Trujillo. “Along with San Diego State University, we want to award you your certificate of completion.”

The original plan was to award the full amount of roughly $3,000 to one winner however after consulting, the three judges made an announcement.

Rosales-Trujillo announced, “We have decided to award the winner $2,000 and split the remaining money in the form of $250 towards each one of the remaining four participants, which will be enough to at least get you started with your licensing and permitting that we talked about.”

During the three week program, participants crafted a business plan, including cost overhead and marketing plans. The five finalists’ businesses included year round swimming lessons, a flight school, a flower shop boutique, interior design, and videography business.

The students were given certificates of recognition from the offices of California Senator Steve Padilla, 36th District of California Assemblyman Jeff Gonzalez, and Senator Raul Ruiz (CA-D).

HASTINGS, Neb. (KSNB) – Area tournaments began play for legion baseball teams in Class B & C on Friday.

Area C-5

#4 Albion def. #5 East Butler, 4-2

#3 Sutton def. #6 Wood River, 8-0

#2 Ord def. #7 DTG, 9-2

Area C-6

#1 Loomis def. #6 Ravenna, 15-0

#5 Overton def. #2 Cambridge, 14-0

#3 St. Paul, def. #4 DCB, 9-1

Area B-4

#2 Central City def. #7 Aurora, 9-1

#3 York def. #6 Fairbury, 9-8

Area B-6

#1 Holdrege def. #6 O’Neill, 9-0

#2 Broken Bow def. #5 LWW, 5-1

#3 McCook def. #4 Minden, 7-2

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There’s nothing tangible here yet, but Joe Tipton of Rivals thinks that Duke leads for Jordan Smith.

Tipton: “Everything I’ve heard up to this point is that the Blue Devils will be difficult to beat.”

Smith of course goes to Paul VI in Fairfax, and Duke has seen several players from there in recent years including Jeremy Roach, Trevor Keels and currently Patrick Ngongba and Darren Harris.

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Obviously they could give him a comfort level that would be hard to find anywhere else.

Smith is a 6-3 shooting guard who would fit well into Jon Scheyer’s offensive scheme. He’s also getting interest from Kentucky, Arkansas, Louisville and Syracuse.

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Junior baseball player was a two-way star for Ignacio

Ignacio’s Gabe Archuleta pitches on April 19, 2024, at IHS Field against Bayfield. (Joel Priest/Herald file)

Gabe Archuleta stepped up to the plate this season, both figuratively and literally, for Ignacio High School.

He was rewarded with several accolades, including being voted the top Bayfield or Ignacio high school spring sports athlete on durangoherald.com. Archuleta also earned a San Juan Basin League First Team All-Conference spot as a catcher and a Colorado High School Activities Association All-State honorable mention.

As one of the five nominees, Archuleta took a whopping 67.06% of the vote. Ignacio’s Lincoln deKay (track and field) took second with 15.29% and Bayfield’s Sydney Rey (girls soccer) finished third with 10.59%.

“It means a lot to me because coming into high school, I never thought that I’d win something like this,” Archuleta said about being voted as the top spring sports athlete. “It means a lot to me and my family to show that hard work has been paying off.”

Archuleta’s hard work has led him to be a strong player on both sides of the ball for the Bobcats. He finished second in the San Juan Basin League in runs and first in stolen bases, but was also solid on defense. Archuleta played catcher and pitcher, finishing second in the SJBL in batters struck out (behind teammate Ambrose Valdez) and second in fielding percentage.

With Archuleta and fellow All-State honorable mentions Sonny Flores and Stoney White Thunder on the roster, Ignacio had a strong season. The Bobcats took their fourth straight league title, something they take pride in and place emphasis on throughout the season. IHS finished 15-6 overall and 10-1 in league play, with their season ending in a 12-11 loss to Wray in the 2A Region 1 Regional in which a miracle rally barely fell short.

Ignacio’s most dominant stretch of the season allowed them to put their talents on full display. After being swept in a doubleheader by Monte Vista on March 28, Ignacio went to work. From April 1 to 26, IHS went 11-1, outscoring their opponents 165-51 over the 12-game stretch.

Archuleta credited team chemistry as the main reason Ignacio had such a strong season, with teammates building trust and confidence in one another. He also said that head coach Isiah Valdez and assistant Lawrence Toledo led the team very well and helped all the athletes, including him, to get better.

Playing catcher, pitcher and being a solid hitter is something Archuleta has had to work his way up to in his three years of baseball. He began as an outfielder and tried catching when the team’s catcher was injured his freshman year. Archuleta discovered his talent for catching and stayed as the Ignacio catcher.

As a sophomore, Archuleta began pitching in practice and became a strong pitcher, working with former IHS baseball coach and high school star Damon White Thunder. The progression to becoming a well-rounded player continued in the offseason between his sophomore and junior year. He said that the biggest area of growth for him was hitting, with dialing in his swing and getting contact as two major points he focused on.

Going into his senior year, Archuleta wants to focus on becoming a team leader as a new group of freshmen joins the team.

“(I want to develop) team chemistry, because we’re going to have freshmen coming in,” Archuleta said. “The way I think about it is I want to be like the seniors that I went to school with when I was a freshman.”

Archuleta said the Bobcats has several goals for his senior season and looks forward to doing whatever he can to help the team get to them.

“Winning the league is one of our main goals,” said Archuleta. “Our biggest goal is to go to regionals, have a winning record, do good in regionals and try to make it out. I think this is going to be the best team we’ve had, just a lot of talent all around. I think we’re capable of a lot.”

ajbonanno@durangoherald.com

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