A silver medal with West County ties

Oakland Tribune, Aug 13, 2008 by Chris Treadway

The wonder of modern technology allows you to call an El Sobrante cell phone number at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday and instantly wake someone in a hotel room in Hong Kong at 2:30 a.m. Thursday.

Not that Bob Ostini minded. Ostini, an officer with the Richmond Elks Lodge and a board member with the El Sobrante Chamber of Commerce, was happy to talk about his daughter's medal-winning accomplishments in the 2008 Olympics.

"We're all extremely proud here," Ostini said of daughter Gina Miles, who took the individual silver medal in equestrian eventing Tuesday. "We're just so jazzed that she's a silver medalist. She worked so hard to be at this point."

Unlike the rest of the events in the Beijing games, the equestrian competition is held in Hong Kong because of China's strict quarantine laws. So a large contingent of Miles' family and friends -- including Ostini and his wife, Janet, as well as Miles' mother, Pam Ostini, and Miles' husband, Morgan -- are in Hong Kong for the "once-in-a-lifetime moment."

None of her well-wishers has been able to spend much time with Miles yet.

"Security at the park is pretty extreme, so it's hard to get access to her," Ostini said, adding that even Miles' two children "haven't seen her any more than we have."

That will all change when they celebrate the medal performance in true Super Bowl fashion.

"We're all going to Hong Kong Disney today, believe it or not," Ostini said.

Ostini was videotaping his daughter as she rode her horse, McKinlaigh, in the individual jumping finals Tuesday. She rose to a medal finalist position after the two riders ahead of her each dropped a rail.

"My heart was in my throat," Ostini said. "It was so emotionally intense."

Miles was born in San Francisco, raised in Davis and graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 1997, but she has ties to West County.

"I bought her first horse at the first auction for the Boys & Girls Club in Richmond, which was held at Hilltop," Ostini said, recalling that the horse "was donated to the auction by a horse person in Pinole."

"A whole lot of people in Richmond are rooting for her," Ostini said. "I've been getting all kinds of e-mails and phone calls."

Miles began riding at age 7 and was 10 when she went to the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles and told her parents that she wanted to compete in the games.

If the scheduling can be worked out, Miles will be a guest of honor in the parade down San Pablo Dam Road that opens the El Sobrante Stroll on Sept. 21.

Miles, who lives in the Central Coast town of Creston, has an online journal of her Olympic experience at mileseventing.com.

WEST COUNTY NOTES: The Pinole Police Department won't hold its third annual Citizens Academy until October, but the popular program for adults who work or live in Pinole only has space for 30 students and always fills early. The program meets for two hours on Saturday mornings and provides a broad look at the world of criminal justice, from operations in the field to behind-the-scenes operations to city government. To learn more, call the Pinole Police Crime Prevention Unit at 510-724-9838 or visit www.ci.pinole.ca.us/police/ crimeprev.html#citacademy.

-- La Pena Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave. in Berkeley, is hosting a show by guitarist and composer Alex Pfeifer-Rosenblum, an El Cerrito High School graduate, Aug. 24. For ticket information, visit www.lapena.org/event/845. or call 510-849-2568.

-- The El Cerrito High School Archiving Project, a volunteer effort created three years ago when the original school was torn down, has announced the winners of its scholarships for 2008. The project received 21 applications and is awarding four scholarships of $1,000 each to 2008 graduates Christina Mills, Crystal Komarizadeh, Lilliana Rojas and Ethan Houser.

-- The ECHS Archiving Project also is busy planning for opening day celebrations for the new high school facility and is seeking contact information for Gaucho alumni. Past grads can contact the project at ECarchives@aol.com, which is where you can ask to sign up for the Archiving Project newsletter.

An item a day keeps this column in play. Call 510-262-2784, send an e-mail to ctreadway@bayareanewsgroup.com or a fax to 510-262- 2776.