Greg Fontanilla

My Recent Work

El Camino College The Union •

Non-collegiate sprinters shine at Dave Shannon Invitational

The Dave Shannon track and field invitational at Murdock Stadium highlighted sprinters from non-collegiate organizations who dominated nearly every sprint event Saturday, March 29.
One of those clubs was Athlete.X, who secured a first place finish in the men’s 4×100-meter relay. The quartet featured Southern California native Khalfani Muhammad, Cody Bidlow and twins Justin and Brendan Fong.
Despite a delay in the baton exchange between Muhammad and Bidlow and the team running together for the fi...
El Camino College The Union •

Serving up a new era: a coach on and off the court

On the sand courts at the Tokyo Olympics, the sound of Australia’s Mariafe Artacho del Solar’s hand slapping the ball during a serve echoes through the empty stadium.
With the American team needing just one point to win the women’s beach volleyball gold medal match, Artacho del Solar launches the ball into the net, giving victory to the Americans.
April Ross will never forget what happened next.
Roars of celebration erupt from the six-foot, one-inch tall Ross as she and her beach partner Alix Kl...
El Camino College The Union •

Warriors football team execute comeback against Ventura, clinch National Northern League title

For the first time since 2018, the Warriors of El Camino clinched a National Northern League title and a playoff berth after overcoming a 21-point deficit over the Ventura Pirates at Featherstone Field.
The star of the show under the Saturday night lights was none other than Warriors running back Jaden Moore, who recorded 32 carries for 182 rushing yards, four touchdowns, averaging just under six yards per carry.
“I just felt it, I let the game come to me,” Moore said. “I aint rush nothing, some...
El Camino College The Union •

Warriors football team hang on by a thread in National Northern League matchup with Renegades

The rivalry between the Bakersfield College Renegades and El Camino College Warriors was renewed on Oct. 5, resulting in the Warriors winning by a hair 27-26 at Featherstone Field.
In their 67th meeting since 1947, the National Northern League clash featured a strong offensive performance by the Warriors in the first half and thrilling fourth quarter.
“I thought in the first half we played good football all year long offensively and defensively,” Warriors coach Gifford Lindheim said. “We made so...
El Camino College The Union •

Three-time Olympic medalist April Ross named coach of El Camino beach volleyball program

Three-time Olympic medalist and professional beach volleyball player April Ross has been hired to coach El Camino College’s beach volleyball program.
Ross will succeed LeValley Pattison who stepped down from coaching the beach team after eight seasons at the helm.
“I’m excited to continue to grow this program,” Ross said. “Not just compete, but guide the athletes here in their lives and help them succeed.”
She will become the second coach in the program’s eight-year history.
The former USC Troja...
El Camino College The Union •

Suicide unfolds in campus parking lot

Update: This story has been updated. 
A former El Camino College student is dead after jumping from the top of ECC’s Parking Lot H after stabbing his mother with a knife in a physically violent altercation that occurred on Friday afternoon.
In a statement released by ECC’s Office of Marketing and Communications on Friday night, the mother collapsed after running onto Redondo Beach Boulevard and was taken to Harbor UCLA Medical Center in critical condition. Officers attempted to save the man’s li...
El Camino College The Union •

Top 5 items found in the bags of student-athletes

Student-athletes don’t just carry around books, writing materials and laptops. They also carry items to keep up with items for training for their respective sports. Warrior Life interviewed El Camino College student-athletes to find out what they have in their training bags. Here are the top five items Warrior Life discovered!

1) Training shoes
For freshman Payton Garrison, an outside hitter and opposite hitter on the volleyball team, a pair of Nike’s Kyrie shoe line for the volleyball court is...
El Camino College The Union •

Hurdler clinches state title, longtime coach to retire

Looking to avenge his runner-up at the state championship in the men’s 110-meter hurdles last year, sophomore Anthony Taylor clinched the state title with a new personal best.

Taylor was among the four El Camino College qualifiers at the California Community College Athletic Association’s track and field state championship at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo on Saturday, May 18.

“Once I got off the last couple of hurdles, I knew I was going to separate from the pack,” Taylor said. “At the e
El Camino College The Union •

Eyeing a field of dreams: Softball standout sets sights on the Olympics

Anahi Pintado is eyeing down the pitcher.

It’s early in the Warriors’ game against Chaffey College, and Pintado, a 5-foot, 3-inch freshman catcher, is taking practice swings from the on-deck circle as she awaits her turn at bat.

Soon, it’s her turn to step up to the plate.

Pintado makes her way to the diamond as her name is announced through the loudspeakers at El Camino College’s softball field. Mariachi music plays over another loudspeaker.

With a bat in hand and helmet on her head, she st
El Camino College The Union •

El Camino’s athletic program boasts success with recruiting efforts

With one of the largest athletic departments of any two-year college in California, El Camino College is home to nearly 400 student-athletes competing in nearly two dozen sports.

The department’s success hinges on funding which, in part, comes from the Associated Students Organization (ASO).

For the 2022-2023 school year, the athletic department’s budget is $7.9 million, according to records obtained by The Union from the El Camino Community College District Athletic Department. The budget inc
El Camino College The Union •

Football Coach Transcends the Game

El Camino football coach Kenneth Talanoa sits in the stands at Featherstone Field at the El Camino College campus in Torrance on Monday, May 16. Talanoa will be entering his 21st season as the defensive line coach. He has been a part of Warrior football not only as a coach, but also played for the late John Featherstone in the early 90s. Additionally, he was inducted into the El Camino football Hall of Fame and named to the 1990s All-Decade team. (Greg Fontanilla | Warrior Life)

If you’ve ever
El Camino College The Union •

Olympian, father and grandfather makes an impact on El Camino community

George Stanich, 93, holds the bronze medal he won in the high jump at the London Olympics in 1948, at his Gardena residence on Monday, Nov. 1. Photo by Greg Fontanilla/The Union

George Stanich is an Olympic bronze medalist in the National Collegiate Athletic Association high jump, a University of California Los Angeles Hall of Famer. Playing under the legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden, George Stanich was Wooden’s first ever All-American selection, a longtime basketball coach at El Cam
El Camino College The Union •

Year 15 and counting: statistics professor continues to thrive in and out of the classroom

As a young child, Junko Forbes never thought she would teach mathematics. She wanted to be a music composer for films like how John Williams composed for the Star Wars and Harry Potter series or “Jurassic Park.”

Her passion for music began at age 3, playing the piano until she was 18. As a college student, she wanted to double major in music and mathematics.

On two occasions, she had light bulb moments that allowed her to put the pieces of her future together.

In high school, her mathematics
El Camino College The Union •

Academy to the streets: Brazilian jiu-jitsu's impact on law enforcement

During a sparring session simulating a street fight that starts standing up and later goes to the ground, I find myself on my back.

My training partner grabs both my legs and takes me down to the ground after driving his knee down to the mats while his shoulder drives into my chest.

I’m trying to get out of the bottom position while he drives his weight onto me from the top, preventing me from getting up.

I’m able to move my legs until he immobilizes one of them by holding onto the material o
El Camino College The Union •

How family dysfunction led me to an epiphany

I was 6 years old when my dad was driving in Old Torrance. I felt a thud. He accidentally struck a pedestrian. My mom, little brother and I were in the car. Mom checked on the woman who had been struck.

Two decades later, I learned about the moment dad had experienced as he hit the woman crossing the street – his periphery narrowed.

He developed a blind spot in his eyesight due to a brain tumor he was not aware of and did not see the crossing pedestrian. Three surgeries later, dad was still fu
El Camino College The Union •

How life and death led to my rediscovery of Brazilian jiu-jitsu

Greg Fontanilla with his promotion belt and certificate on Jan. 17 at Gracie University in Torrance.

I was at home watching a documentary on Netflix about Aaron Hernandez, the former NFL star turned convicted murderer when I received a life-changing phone call from an unknown number at 4:47 p.m.

After exchanging pleasantries with a social worker on the other line, the next line of dialogue sent shockwaves through my body.

“I’m sorry to have to be the one to inform you, but your father passed