From June 24, through June 26, sixteen Orange County Sheriff's Explorers competed in the 2005 Channel Islands Challenge in Oxnard, California. Post Coordinator Deputy Dan Daniels, Lake Forest Division Advisor Deputy Kim Milewski and South Division Advisor Deputy John Gomez supervised our team, who competed against over two hundred other explorers from throughout California and other states. Explorer Mike Grijalva photographed the entire competition for the Post. The Sheriff's team earned two first place trophies for Building Search and 5-person Tug-a-war and two second place trophies for Hostage Rescue and Drill. Individual awards went to Explorer Jonathan Larson - second place trophy for Daytime Ride-along scenario; Deputy Kim Milewski - first place trophy Female Advisor Obstacle Course and Deputy John Gomez - third place trophy for Male Advisor Obstacle Course. We would like to congratulate the following explorers for a job well done.
Dan Grijalva
Ruben Herrera
Jon Larson
Matthew Padilla
Cameron Newett
Todd Smith
Ryan McInnis
Jacqueline Branson
Carl Dossland
Tim Ashbaugh
Sarah Oropeza
Edward Kwak
Alex Brown
Steven Pipkin
Jay Jones
Nick Harms
Explorer Post 449 would like to thank the following Sheriff’s personnel for their assistance with the travel arrangements, funding, training and equipment needed for both competitions:
Assistant Sheriff Peter Gannon - Operations
Captain Bob Blackburn - South Operations
Lieutenant Ron White - Explorer Director and Chief of Police Services/RSM
Lieutenant James Lazzaro and Sergeant Kirk Antes - Transportation Bureau
Deputy David Hartman and Deputy Joe Warner - Tactical Training Center
Senior Office Supervisor Sandy Trujillo - South Operations
Patrol Office Supervisor Carol Rinderknecht - South Operations
Buyer II Machi Kyriakidis - Purchasing - Financial/Administrative Services
Accounting Assistant Kathy Hayes - Travel Desk - Financial/Administrative Services
Analyst Kathy Douglas - ASR’S/Grants - Financial/Administrative Services
