A high school senior works at an ice cream shop to cover transportation and a veterinarian bill for an injured dog. He is also a shotputter and discus thrower at Riverside Notre Dame. After straining a tendon in his right ankle, he stayed home but still answered a busy work call to serve customers. He missed Southern Section track preliminaries because every throw hurt badly. He declined a chance to compete at the Southern Section championships to protect his future. He has achieved league titles, strong shotput and discus marks, and academic recognition, while also facing significant emotional and financial strain from his mother’s two cancer battles.
"“It was insanely busy,” said Tennyson, who is 6 feet 6 and 300 pounds. “I took an Advil and served birthday cake, brownie, chocolate fudge.” There was no way Tennyson wouldn't answer the call for duty. “It's my first job as a teenager,” he said. “It's good for job experience.”"
"Tennyson never made it to the Southern Section track preliminaries after winning the league title. “Every throw, it hurt badly,” he said. “I wanted to push through it.” He made the decision to protect his future, so he passed on a chance to compete at Saturday's Southern Section track championships."
"He was back-to-back Skyline League champion. His best efforts were 51-10 in the shotput and 145-7 in the discus. He was admitted to 19 colleges. He was recognized by the Riverside Hall of Fame as a top scholar-athlete. He's a two-time Principal's Honor Roll recipient."
"“As a mother, it's been humbling to watch the kind of young man he has become through adversity,” Janet said in a letter she wrote honoring her son. Fighting cancer is exhausting for everyone involved. “We didn't a spend a lot of time together, ” Kaden said. “She was mainly asleep. I wanted to be strong at home and not cry to make her sad. My friends helped a lot.”"
Read at Los Angeles Times
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