Into the Vault: Year-old Silhouette

Woodland High School's Miriam Leon lofts into the sky in the pole vaulting event at last year's Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Meet at the Elk Grove-Laguna Creek Stadium on May 29, 2014.

When Leon, at left below, first met Wolves pole vaulting coach Scott Strohmeyer, at right below, as a freshman she thought he was "pretty intimidating. But with time Leon, who is now at UC Berkeley, felt otherwise: "He's the best," she told me for my story in the Woodland Daily Democrat. "I love him so much. He's just such a great coach."

Pioneer girls soccer program's first playoff win

Pioneer girls soccer celebrates goals in the program's first playoff win, a 3-2 defeat of host Christian Brothers on Tuesday in the first round of the Division III Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs. Patriots Tanya Rodriguez (12, scored twice) and Nicole Sanchez (9, scored), Julia Quintero (10), Ally Martin (4), Rachel May (19) and Hawai'i-bound goalkeeper Alexis Mata are featured.

First professional addition, many more to come

Taking this shot makes me want to get my photo portfolio in order.

So, I shall. It may take a bit of time, but it will definitely happen.

Here's the story behind the shot, which required someone's help:

While at a high school baseball game, I approached an elderly gentleman holding a nice digital camera and discussed its specs. After hearing I was covering the game for the Woodland Daily Democrat but didn't have a company camera, Paul Jones handed me his and said he could email me whatever I took with it. How gracious, I thought, so I thanked him profusely and used it to snap this. Turns out, Mr. Jones is the grandfather of Davis freshman Tyler Mortenson, who I caught at right stretching before an at-bat while the Pioneer battery Carson Jones, left, and Easton Vidales chat.

High School Portfolio

While these are all sports photographs, and while I do enjoy sports photojournalism the most, I am not necessarily pigeonholed as a sports photographer. I have taken others, but they did not fit into this series of photos. All of these are from my two years of high school experience (one as photo editor for my school's newsmagazine and yearbook), and I am very proud of all, and even more of a particular few, of these photographs. The first photo won second place in the school spirit category of Jostens' national high school photography contest, for which I won a Canon Powershot and a pair of binoculars.

I am an aspiring journalist with special interest in all formats of journalism and entertainment, but with no specific specialty.