3 Students Honored as Athlete-Scholars

Three high school students were honored as athlete-scholars by Orange County Sports Celebrities, a nonprofit group of businessmen interested in Orange County sports. The students are Elizabeth Cruz of Valley High School in Santa Ana, William Denny of Mission Viejo High School and Andrew McIntyre of El Toro High School.

Cruz, a volleyball and basketball player, has a 3.91 grade-point average; football and basketball player Denny has a 3.93 GPA, and swimmer McIntyre has a 4.42 GPA.

All three received $1,500 awards.

The group also awarded $1,500 courage awards to swimmer Angela Faust of Sonora High School in Santa Ana for her fight against bone cancer and to wrestler Steve Coniglio of Foothill High School in Sana Ana, who fought back from a broken neck suffered during a wrestling match.

Orange County Sports Celebrities, founded in 1971, has come under fire because it is a men-only organization, and women are not admitted to its banquets.

Chris Cueva and Ricardo Perez, recent graduates of Mater Dei High School, and Mark Foster, a Foothill High School graduate, received the Boy Scouts’ Eagle rank in a triple ceremony at St. Cecilia Catholic Church in Tustin.

For the required community project, Cueva worked on a Toys for Tots campaign, Foster staged a drive to collect personal supplies for the troops in the Persian Gulf, and Perez helped implement a fund-raising effort for the Lestonnac Clinic in Orange, which treats the poor.

Fountain Valley resident Colleen Fitzpatrick has been selected by the American Academy of Achievement as an honored guest at its 30th-anniversary Salute to Excellence banquet Thursday in New York City.

Fitzpatrick was selected for her work in laser physics and her role as the principal investigator on the NASA Lite Laser, which will be launched aboard the space shuttle next year.

Fitzpatrick, owner of Electro Optic Consulting Services in Fountain Valley, was honored in 1971 by the academy as one of America’s most outstanding future scientists and engineers.

Rahul Krishnaswamy of El Dorado High School, Christopher Neumeyer of Esperanza High School and Huey Dong of Valencia High School are representing the Placentia Unified School District at the American Legion-sponsored Boys State at Cal State Sacramento. The seminar started Friday and runs through June 29.

A family reception will be held this afternoon to celebrate the 100th birthday of Isabel Parra Grijalva, who was born June 21, 1891, in San Juan Capistrano and has remained an Orange County resident.

The Santa Ana resident has two daughters, Vera Mendez of Santa Ana and Virginia Esparza of Orange, 12 grandchildren, 28 great-grandchildren and 9 great-great-grandchildren.

She is a direct descendant of Miguel Parra, for whom the Parra Adobe in San Juan Capistrano is named, according to Esparza. He was her great-great-grandfather.

A $1,500 donation from the Westminster-Fountain Valley branch of the American Assn. of University Women was presented to the AAUW Educational Foundation in the name of Criss Kiefer of Tustin, Gail MacDiarmid of Newport Beach and Vivian Wyse of Fountain Valley in honor of their work with the branch. The money will be distributed through the association to further higher education for women.

Laguna Beach High School students Jennifer Clemence, an alto saxophone player, and Davie Powers, a trumpet player, were selected by the Laguna Committee of the Orange County Philharmonic Society to attend the Idyllwild Summer Music Camp in July.

Anaheim Hills resident Dawn M. Orlow, a student in design merchandising, has been named valedictorian of the 1991 class of the Fashion Institute in Los Angeles and will give the valedictory at graduation ceremonies today at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles.

Submit items to Three Cheers, The Times, c/o Herbert J. Vida, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, Calif. 92626.