Chief Roberta A. Abner is a 30-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, and is currently assigned as the Executive Assistant to Sheriff Lee Baca. Aside from directly assisting the Sheriff, she oversees the Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau, Employee Support Services and the Sheriff's Youth Foundation.

After graduating from the Sheriff's Academy, she held assignments at Sybil Brand Institute for Women, West Hollywood Station, and the Recruit Training Bureau. Upon being promoted to Sergeant in 1987, Chief Abner worked at Temple Station, as an investigator at Internal Affairs Bureau, and as the Commander's Aide at Professional Standards and Training Division. When she was promoted to Lieutenant in 1991, she worked at Pitchess Detention Center's East Facility, West Hollywood Station, Scientific Services Bureau, Internal Affairs Bureau, and Century Station. Upon her promotion to Captain in 1999, she oversaw the operations at Court Services East Bureau, and eventually assumed command of Temple Station. She was promoted to Commander in April, 2003 and to Chief in June 2007.

Chief Abner serves as the Southern California Law Enforcement Torch Run Director for Special Olympics where she oversees the torch run activities and fundraising efforts for all the law enforcement agencies in the Southern California Region. She assumed the role for the reason law enforcement officers become so actively involved, to "make a difference in the lives of Special Olympic athletes."

Chief Abner has been an athlete her entire life, participating in a variety of sports which included softball, volleyball, and track and field. She currently competes in running events year round and has taken up the game of golf.

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Chris Shevlin
Micheal Cooper - Head Coach, LA Sparks
Ann Meyers Drysdale
Dr. Sylvia Domoter
Reggie Theus
Joe Peron
Kim Rhode
Patrick Whitlock
Chief Roberta A. Abner
Jim Harrick
Ryan Musberger
Dr. Jennifer Wicher
Mel Sims

THE KIM RHODE STORY

As the youngest person to ever represent the U.S. on the Olympic Shooting Team and the youngest woman for any country in the world to make an Olympic shooting team, Kim has worked hard to achieve her dream. The road to the Olympics began at the age of 10. Kim practiced every day after school, sometimes until 9 or 10 o'clock at night and getting up at 4 am to complete her homework. A typical day of practice is 4 to 6 hours every single day. She has been training for 19 years. Her early training put her in the history books as the youngest girl to break 100 straight in American skeet at 12 years old. In 1994 and 1995 she was co-captain of the Open Ladies All-American Skeet Team. Kim attended Cherrylee Elementary School and Durfee Junior High in El Monte and in 1997 Kim graduated from Arroyo High School with a four-year varsity letter for shooting. She has gone on to won “hundreds” of medals and awards for her accomplishments and contributions to the shooting sports. The most notable of these are: 1996 Olympic Gold Medal in Double Trap, 2000 Olympic Bronze Medal, 2004 Olympic Gold Medal, 2008 Olympic Silver Medal in International Skeet , seven gold medals in World Cup competitions (six in her International Doubles Trap event and one in her new event: International Skeet where she also set a new world record). Kim also captured the gold medal at both the 1999 and 2003 Pan American Games.

At the young age of 29, Kim Rhode has won just about every award and honor that you can earn in the sport of shooting and in the outdoors industries. She is a four-time winner of USA Shooting's "FEMALE SHOOTER OF THE YEAR" and a five-time winner of USA Shooting's "FEMALE SHOTGUN SHOOTER OF THE YEAR". In addition, Kim has received the United States Olympic Committee's "SHOOTER OF THE YEAR" award and CHEVY TRUCKS' "SHOOTER OF THE YEAR" awards. She also received the "DISTINGUISHED SHOOTER MEDAL" from the U.S. Army in 1995 and the coveted shooting industry's "ACADEMY OF EXCELLENCE" award in 1997. Kim was named one of 20 initial Olympian honorees for the "Olympian Heroes" series. TIME Magazine named her as one of the “Top Ten Sports Phenoms” of 1996 following her dramatic gold-medal-winning performance at the Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta.

Just a few of Kim Rhode's latest accomplishments include:

• International spokesperson for SHE Safari apparel which will also feature her own line of shooting apparel.
• Featured international media spokesperson for Marksman-Beeman's new line of “Double Gold” Air guns
• Continuing her long-term association with Perazzi, maker of the finest shotguns in the world.
• Working as the featured national media spokesperson for “Kids and Clays,” a national charity that raises funds and awareness for Ronald McDonald Houses.
• Longtime national spokesperson for the NSSF's "Scholastic Clay Target" youth shooting programs.
• Kim is again endorsing Randolph Engineering's “Ranger” Shooting Glasses.
• Kim proudly shoots Winchester Ammunition.

Kim served for two years as the featured national spokesperson for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's national television and radio public service campaigns. Kim was the sole woman selected and the first of 25 "most influential" essayists featured by Petersen's Hunting to commemorate their 25th anniversary issue. She has appeared at scores of events that have assisted vital local, regional and national organizations in the outdoors industries and on behalf of numerous charities. Kim's accomplishments have received millions of impressions in print and electronic media but her favorite appearance was "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" in 1996 right before her first Olympic Games. "I was only 16 at the time and all of my friends stayed up just to watch me. After I won my gold medal, Jay Leno sent me a dozen roses to celebrate!"

Kim seems to thrive on her busy schedule and is able to balance all of the requirements of international competitions, her extensive practice time, numerous public appearances and media commitments on behalf of her sponsors and her sport. In her free time, she enjoys restoring classic vehicles and restoring and furnishing her Craftsman home. She also collects first edition children's books, her favor being Raggedy Ann and The Wizard of OZ.

Jim Harrick

Head Basketball Coach
University of Georgia

Former UCLA coach,
NCAA champion 1995

Dr. Jennifer Wicher
Founder of Synergy Naturopathic Medical Clinic

Dr. Jennifer Wicher (or "Dr. Jen" as she likes to be called) is the founder of the Synergy Naturopathic Medical Clinic. Dr. Jen is a board-certified and state-licensed Naturopathic Doctor (ND) and a licensed Physical Therapist (PT) and Athletic Trainer (AT). Dr. Jen's years of experience working in the conventional health care system - where surgery and drugs were the treatments of choice – convinced her to return to school to study naturopathic medicine.

As a naturopathic doctor, Dr. Jen has been trained to make use of both traditional and natural medical perspectives. Her work focuses on therapies that encourage and support the body's natural healing processes.

Dr. Jen's experience as an athlete (she played soccer for the University of Buffalo and enjoys cycling, surfing, and indoor soccer) uniquely qualify her to address the medical needs of high performance athletes. In particular, she is interested in and has developed groundbreaking protocols for treating patients who must undergo orthopedic surgery. More information, visit the Synergy Naturopathic Medial Clinic web site www.synergymedclinic.com.

Always full of energy and enthusiasm, Dr. Jen is knowledgeable, practical, and takes great pride in helping her patients along the road to health.

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