Daryl Holmlund was the fourth Colorado State University student to receive a scholarship from the Physically Challenged Athletes Scholarship Fund. Daryl fell in love with running in the 7th grade and went on to compete on the Loveland High School Cross Country and Track teams. He was a state finalist in the 1600 and went on to compete at Calvin College in both sports. A 20 and under champion in the Rocky Mountain State Games and the Lake-to-Lake Olympic distance triathlon Daryl also excelled in Mountaineering. He climbed half of the 56 Colorado Peaks over 14,000 feet or as he calls it “bagging fourteeners”. On November 24, 2004 Daryl was traveling home from Michigan to Colorado for Thanksgiving when a deer jumped in front of his friend’s car as he slept in the back seat without a seat belt on. The driver swerved and the car rolled over, throwing Daryl out of the back window. His jaw was broken through in two places, several ribs were broken and he suffered a collapsed lung and severe internal bleeding. His T-8 vertebra was crushed and the spinal cord was damaged. Four months were spent in Craig Hospital before Daryl could move on with his life. Daryl returned to Calvin College the following fall and finished his bachelor’s degree in Greek, Religion and Archaeology. He turned his competitive and athletic nature in to the sport of handcycling. He went on to start a graduate program in Biblical Studies at Denver Seminary. While in graduate school he started to work as a substitute teacher. There he discovered his real love for teaching and decided to go on and complete his teaching certificate at USC. After graduation, Daryl moved to Long Beach where he teaches at Long Beach Poly. He keeps active rolling, swimming, rowing and is an active supporter of Swim With Mike.