The Lincoln Log

David Garcia

The news that David Garcia is a full-time athlete might come as a surprise to some. Garcia is having a busy year at Abraham Lincoln High School with most of his time spent between balancing football and normal senior chaos such as college admissions and getting his homework done. Its surprising that he finds time for Advanced Placement (AP) courses and weight lifting.

It’s unusual that such a loyal and dedicated Varsity football player has only been playing for three years. He had always shown interest in the sport but it wasn’t until he came to Lincoln and met coach, Phillip Ferrigno, that he actually started playing. Once he began playing, he fell in love with it. After spending two years on junior varsity Garcia made varsity as both an offensive and defensive line. He is currently one the Varsity Football Co-captains.

“I like hitting people,” Garcia said.

Being part of a team is one of the main reasons Garcia continues to play the game. It kept him inspired when he started both offensively and defensively at last year’s football championship. All the support Garcia had received from his family helped him fight for a victory. Even though winning championships was a very important game to him it was not his most memorable.

Most people mistake last years Turkey Day game against Balboa High School as Garcia’s most prominent game. It was actually the game that lead up to Turkey Day that was his best. Winning by a close score of 24- 22 sent them to the championships. “Its probably the most emotional game I’ve ever played in,” Garcia said.

Garcia also devotes his time to weight lifting. While competing in the United States National Weight Lifting Champions in Detroit, Michigan, he claimed the title of one of the top ten weight lifters in the country. For winning at nationals Garcia got the opportunity to be on a Sub 17 Pan Am team, a highly recognized Olympic team. Being on this team he was to participate in the Pan Am weight lifting games in Ecuador. Garcia made his family and school proud by bringing home a silver metal.

Though it would seem football and weight lifting scholarships would be taking Garcia all over the world for college, he has decided to stay closer to home. For college plans, he hopes to either attend University of California Berkeley or Davis to pursue a career in medicine or science. Staying close to home will keep him in touch with his family and be able to continue weight lifting.