Friends and Family,
I hope this note finds each of you thawed out from the winter blast that has hit the country the last week. I wanted to bring you up to speed on the latest developments with the foundation as we speed along through 2011!
Tracy and I had a great time at the OU Baseball Diamond Dinner this past weekend. Mom & Dad joined us as we visited with our friends on the Sooner coaching staff and players. It was our honor to present the first annual Mitch Whitaker Award to the Sooner baseball player that represented all those great qualities that Mitchell embodied: great teammate, fierce competitor, & willingness to place the team above himself.
Jack Mayfield, 2nd team all Big 12 utility selection as a true freshman, won the award. I thought it was poetice that a young man that went 5-0 on the mound and played 2nd base won the first award....Mitch would have been pleased. We will post photos on the website in the next few days but you can see a few at this link...just click on the photo gallery tab:
http://www.soonersports.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/012911aaa.html
UPCOMING EVENTS (mark your calendars):
SUNDAY, MAY 1: OKC Memorial Marathon. Come run/walk with GoMitchGo. Order your GoMitchGo Athletics 2011 shirt. Details can be found on our Events page.
FRIDAY, MAY 13: GOMITCHGO DAY - OU BASEBALL vs New Mexico. This has become a wonderful tradition in which OU Baseball and sponsors make a donation to help cure blood cancer research in Mitchell's honor. This will be our 3rd year to do this event. To date, these efforts have raised ~$6500 for the cause!
SUNDAY, MAY 21: IRONMAN TEXAS - MIKE THOMPSON. Mike is our first sponsored GoMitchGo athlete that we are supporting as he completes his first full iron distance (2.4 mile swim / 112 mile bik / 26.2 mile run) in Mitchell's honor. Mike was first diagnosed with leukemia at about the same age Mitchell. Mike has survived 4 different bouts with cancer over the last 15 years and 78 surgeries associated with his treatment. His story is a great parallel to Mitchell's journey. You can learn more about "Iron Mikey" on here.
Mike was featured in Austin Fit Magazine and his efforts are making Mitchell's story known all over Austin!
http://www.austinfitmagazine.com/Fitness/Features/2010/October/A-True-Ironman.html
Great things are happening folks....thanks so much for your support. More to come...Keep fighting.
Posted on
Sat, February 5, 2011
by John Whitaker