School district honors TeWinkle marathoners

As far as TeWinkle Middle School Principal Dan Diehl is concerned, a student who can run 26.2 miles can achieve just about anything. Tuesday night, then, was a proud one for Diehl, as the Newport-Mesa Unified School District board honored the TeWinkle students who completed this year’s Los Angeles Marathon.

The 25 students on TeWinkle’s marathon team — most of them from TeWinkle, but a few from Newport-Mesa district high schools — began practicing for the marathon in September and fit in extra training on the weekends. Students Run L.A., a nonprofit group that prepares secondary school teams for the marathon, sponsored Newport-Mesa’s crew.

The school board presented certificates to each member of the team, while Diehl introduced a slide montage showing the team at practice and in competition.

“These are kids who are 11 to 14 years old who are tackling middle school — probably the toughest part of any school career — and they’re also training for and running marathons,” he told the board.

— Michael Miller