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DATE: Tuesday, March 1, 2005 BYLINE: Rayne Wolfe SECTION: FEATURES COLUMN: FACE MIKE BREW Personal: Mike Brew is a 17-year-old junior at Maria Carrillo who lives in Santa Rosa with his mom, Cathy; dad, John; and 13-year-old sister, MacKenzie. His brother David, 20, attends Santa Rosa Junior College. The family shares its home with a dog named Daisy and three cats: Shadow, Socks and Sneakers. Brew, just Brew: It started when he played soccer. With two Michaels on the team, he became known by his last name. It stuck. ``Since then everybody calls me Brew. I'm just Brew,'' said the teen, who has shifted from middle school soccer to wrestling in the 8th grade, finally focusing on running, both cross country and track. It all adds up: He keeps a running log up on his bedroom wall to tote up the miles he knocks out every day, sometimes twice a day. He splits his focus between grades and running. With the cross country season over, he's gearing up for track events under the direction of coach Danny Aldridge. ``Our coach keeps us busy. I pretty much run every day after school. On Tuesdays I run twice,'' said the teen who often hangs out with running buddies, often enjoying pizza together. When the team comes to his house, his mom always makes their favorite cookies. ``Running takes a lot of discipline and a lot of time. I was All Empire for cross country and that was pretty exciting,'' said the teen who always enjoys traveling to different towns for meets. Summer fun: Last summer, Brew shared a two-week sojourn to Mexico with his family. And most summers the Brews take off for Fallen Leaf Lake near Lake Tahoe. ``I really love Fallen Leaf Lake. It's just so beautiful,'' said the teen, who runs even on vacation. Fallen Leaf Lake is a good 7 miles around. He also enjoys skiing, a sport he's enjoyed since he was 4, and snowboarding has been a passion since he was 13. Making the grade: With both parents working as teachers, you can bet homework is a favorite subject at the Brew home. ``To me, Maria Carrillo is like a prep school anyway. We all work pretty hard. I maintain my GPA above 3.5 with routine. I run, I study, I eat and I get 6 hours of sleep, minimum,'' he said. Although he loves movies on the weekends, most weekdays, he doesn't even turn on the TV. Helping others: He also volunteers as a tutor, helping other students with their work. ``I help them with math, science or Spanish. Most kids are pretty bright. The biggest problem I see is that they forget to write down their homework assignments. Most kids just need a little bit of planning,'' he said. Although admittedly slightly dyslexic, his favorite subject is English. He also helps out at community events like a recent school benefit crab feed. ``It was insane. I've never seen so much crab. The football players served and then the scrawny cross country runners were left to clean up and move tables and chairs,'' he said with a laugh. ``It was OK, though. After we cleaned up everything, we got to eat pizza in the back and then we played basketball,'' he said. Racing toward college: With a vague interest in medicine or accounting, Brew is investigating colleges and talking to his parents about it. ``I didn't always get good grades. But I made a deal with my parents ... keep up my grades and they'd pay my car insurance and gas, if I did my chores. That has worked out pretty well,'' he said. With a trip planned to check out Cal Poly with his mom, Brew is keeping an open mind on career planning while he strives to race toward his senior year.
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