Ojaians among torch bearers
by Chris Wilson

Two Ojai Valley residents were chosen from a pool of more than 200,000 essay nominees to carry the Olympic torch when it passed through Oxnard Wednesday morning.
Jody Peter, 16, is a Nordhoff High School junior. She ran her two-tenths of a mile Wednesday morning clutching the torch.
Curious to know who would have nominated her to carry the Olympic torch, Jody's mom Jan said she called sponsor Coca-Cola to find the answer, but dead-ended when they found Jody had been nominated with an anonymous essay.
Holding a 4.5 GPA, and on the varsity swim and golf teams at Nordhoff, Jody plans to study bioengineering in college.
Jody said she plans to attend the University of California at San Diego, because of its excellent curriculum in that department.
For her, running with the torch, is a chance of a lifetime.
"I was so excited when I found out," she said.
An Oak View-based physician also carried the torch, but he didn't do any running.
Dr. James Schick, the medical director of the neonatalogy intensive care unit at St. John's Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, has been paralyzed and riding in a wheelchair since he was in an auto accident when he was 19. He was nominated by his brother, Tom, an attorney in Silver Springs, Md.
Some 11,500 participants will help carry the flame to Salt Lake City where the 2002 Winter Olympics will begin in early Februray.
"He's just a really great person and I thought this was something he deserved," his brother said.

© 2002 The Ojai Valley News

Back to the news