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Show OREM TIMES Page 9 COMMUNITY SPORTS, PEOPLE AND OUTDOOR FUN Bruin back Heimuli commits to BYU Former Mountain View star Hansen making impact on and off the court Thursday, July 3, 2008 mm Doug Alden ASSOCIATED PRESS Former BYU basketball player Travis Hansen hopes to be wearing red, white and blue at the Olympics this summer for Russia. The U.S. has the same colors as Russia, where Hansen has been embraced for his basketball basket-ball skills and humanitarian efforts. He is so well liked in Russia that he has been given citizenship and an invitation to the national team's Olympic training camp. If he makes the team, he could wind up facing the Americans later this summer. For Hansen, it is an opportunity opportuni-ty to play on the biggest stage in sports, albeit for a different country than he could have ever imagined while growing up in Utah. Hansen said he is an American Ameri-can first, but that the U.S. roster ros-ter was already stocked with names like Kobe and LeBron, and USA Basketball wasn't going go-ing consider a 30-year-old who had played one season in the NBA and the rest in Europe. "I'd love to play for Team USA but they didn't invite me," he said. Nor did he expect them to. In the era of "Dream Teams," Hansen has never really been on the U.S. Olympic radar. The Russians, on the other hand, were interested. Hansen only gave the OK to continue with the naturalization naturaliza-tion after being assured that it would in no way affect his U.S. citizenship. He will also miss the first part of the Russian Rus-sian camp to be home for the Fourth of July. "Every athlete dreams about playing in the Olympics," Hansen said. "The Cold War ended a long time ago, so I figured why not. For a country to come to you and say 'Hey, we want you to represent our country in the Olympics,' that's pretty nice." While his shooting touch and versatility would make him a welcome addition on the Russian Rus-sian national team, his good deeds have made him welcome most everywhere in the country. coun-try. Hansen and his wife, LaRee, have tackled one of the most troubling issues in Russia -- the care of orphans. In just two years, the Hansens' Little Heroes foundation has grown into something big and given Hansen a reputation as an American player with a genuine genu-ine heart. "We had to convince them 'We want to help,' " Hansen said. "We don't want to have our name on the hospital or anything. We just want to help." The initial wariness the Hansens ran into as foreigners Congratulation to MelUsa Browne for passing her ri 9 J2 u o a y : f JV. - - y' , . ' j V , - A ' J; .. - v 1 5 . . : :Lf;3yy y t y . 1 i , V, s DOUGLAS C. PIZACAssociated Press Travis Hansen poses in his Dynamo Moscow jersey at his basketball camp for kids on June 25 in Lehi. The former BYU and Mountain View basketball star hopes to play for the Russian Olympic team this summer. trying to lend a hand eventually eventu-ally diminished. Hansen said he doesn't think Little Heroes necessarily sped up the citizenship citi-zenship process, but it didn't hurt either. After an extensive background check, Hansen said he was approached by the head of Russia's Federal Security Secu-rity Service, the successor to the KGB. "He shook my hand and said "Thanks for all you do for Russia,' Rus-sia,' " Hansen said. Hansen said that was an honor because it had nothing to do with him as a basketball player. It was because of Little Heroes, which was formed after LaRee began looking into adopting a child during her husband's first season with Dynamo Moscow. She knew Russia's reputation for having She has one remaining test out of eight to become a Master Groomer! Melissa (center) is a conscientious groomer and we appreciate all her hard work and look forward to her getting her Masters Certificate! For more information on Certfied Master Groomers: www.riauOTalotoggroomers.com and www.preciouspetparadise.com STARTING JULY 7! WW i 1 DiTOQi I (EariyForMSelection 111 i tf. i$4J i ,'IHS sl,f "-if an arduous adoption process. She didn't know about the grim conditions faced by more than 250,000 orphans living in institutions. LaRee said the surroundings in the understaffed hospitals where the youngest orphans stayed were especially disturbing. disturb-ing. "The conditions were just really re-ally bad and it made my heart just ache. I wanted to see if we could do something," she said. "Here, the buildings would probably be condemned or closed." Travis said nothing he saw as a Mormon missionary in Chile compared to what he saw at the baby hospital in Lyubertsy, about 45 minutes outside of Moscow. Cracked or broken windows let the cold Terrier Certification! tr o o a ENDS JULY 19 Everything Must Go! AIM til A I ID IM Mil air flow freely, so sometimes the cribs were moved out of the bedrooms to the hallway. He said electrical wiring hung from the walls, the plumbing in the bathrooms didn't work and the hospital lacked medical See HANSEN, Page 9 GB2 AT mm wv uwrw GHSQaasaaaOaficnttB 1 1 nJiVlfilUIIifiV iffli 7TJ1 y j with A'New Mattress Sate mattresses not as Darnell Dickson NORTH COUNTY The college football recruiting recruit-ing process isn't perfect. Anthony Heimuli might be one who slipped through the cracks, and BYU could be the beneficiary. Heimuli, a 5-foot-l 1,225-pound 1,225-pound running back from Orem's Mountain View High School confirmed on Friday he's accepted a scholarship offer to play football for BYU in 2009. "BYU represents tradition, honor and service," Heimuli said. "They're a producing program. pro-gram. They focus on other things other than football, and that's what I liked about it." As a junior, Heimuli led Mountain View with 781 rushing yards (8.05 yards per carry) and 11 touchdowns and was a member of the Daily Herald Elite 1 1. He shared the running load with classmate T.J. Mounga (656 yards and seven TD's) as Mountain View posted a 7-4 record. In one three-game stretch, Heimuli piled up 452 rushing yards in wins over Provo, Springville and Payson. But as of this week, BYU and Southern Utah were the only schools to show any interest in-terest in Heimuli. His high school coach, Teko Johnson, said Heimuli didn't get more carries because be-cause he tired easily. That mystery was cleared up when Heimuli was diagnosed with asthma midway through the season. Since December, Heimuli has trained with former Weber State and Tennessee Ten-nessee Titans linebacker Dave Stroshine at AMP Gym. Stroshine also trains Timpview offensive lineman Xavier Su'a-Filo, Pleasant Grove basketball standout C.J. Wilcox and Lone Peak basketball basket-ball star Tyler Haws. Heimuli has dropped 20 pounds and has toned his body under Stroshine's tutelage. "Ive been coaching for 17 years and I've never seen a kid work so hard in his.off-season his.off-season training," Johnson said. "Anthony committed to be the best physically, mentally men-tally and academically that 32EQ .inn tT"TT i t irrIDn " irij!lftt " '.! id Celebrate Your Independence Haaga's i pictured 1032 S. State, Orem 802-6050 A fj RLENorth County Mountain View's Anthony Heimuli poses as a member of the Elite 11 football team on Dec. 5, 2007. he could be. He set a goal for himself and he achieved that. "AH of his ability doesn't show on film. He did well at the All-Poly Camp, then he went to BYU's padded and non-padded camp. When coaches see him run, jump and catch the ball, he can really open their eyes." Heimuli said he spoke with BYU running backs coach Lance Reynolds on Tuesday, and a 10-minute talk turned into a conversation that lasted more than an hour. Friday morning, Heimuli was summoned sum-moned to BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall's office. "He said they really could really use me at fullback," Heimuli said. "I think what they like about me is that I like to hit and I just don't want to go down when I run. They said they liked my physical toughness." Johnson said BYU is getting very athletic and powerful player. "He's big and strong, but his explosiveness at his size is phenomenal," Johnson said. Heimuli runs a 4.6 40-yard dash and has a vertical leap of about 34 inches. He said he plans to play one year at BYU before serving an LDS mission. GGEBGO RED GWBB QS3EB Mattress |