Mahendru attends Nobel Charter Middle School in Granada Hills.
By Raif Karerat
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A young Indian American athlete made herself a familiar face on the podiums at the State Games of America in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska, winning two Gold and three Silver medals at the national figure skating competition.
Serena Mahendru, a 12-year-old Indian American figure skater who hails from Granada Hills, California, earned the set of Gold Medals as part of the California girls synchronized skating team; two silvers in individual competitions; and was runner-up in a couples’ competition.
In addition to being a mainstay of the principal’s honor roll at Nobel Charter Middle School in Granada Hills, the all-action youth volunteers at the San Francisco-based nonprofit Learning Center of Valley Family Center and Los Angeles-based nonprofit Caring Hand for Children, which sponsored more than 2,400 underprivileged children across 17 projects in her ancestral home of India.
The State Games of America is a biennial multi-sports event held in the United States since 1999. Many of the same discipline Olympians compete at the State Games, which include but are not limited to soccer, basketball, BMX, tennis, ice hockey, and gymnastics.
A few sports staged at the State Games are not contested at the Olympics, such as chess, horseshoe pitching, and sport skydiving.
According to the competition’s official website, attendance at the 2015 games was projected at 15,000 participants, 5,000 volunteers and 20,000 additional spectators and guests, with a total attendance of 40,000. The next competition is slated to take place in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 2017.