We at Zona Zealots did not personally know recent Arizona graduate Christina Duarte, but we want to honor her life which was cut too short in Las Vegas earlier this week.
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On Monday, word spread on social media that University of Arizona graduate Christiana Duarte had traveled to Las Vegas for the big concert over the weekend at the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas.
Duarte was missing, but her friend who accompanied her had been located, although injured. The picture on twitter stole our hearts as she posed with a big smile and her hand in the WC (Wildcat) sign.
We at Zona Zealots started reading a little bit about this beautiful girl with the big smile. Duarte graduated in May of 2017 with a sports marketing degree.
She was currently working in Los Angeles for the Kings in fan services. Duarte attended the concert with her brother’s girlfriend and was one of more than a dozen Las Vegas victims who were from the southern California area.
Family tells @JonathanNBCLA that recent University of Arizona grad Christiana Duarte, 21, died in the Las Vegas attack. #news4tucson pic.twitter.com/Y7lBscIqsM
— Sarah Herrera (Engel) (@Sarah_Chicago) October 3, 2017
Christiana Duarte was a member of the Sigma Kappa sorority at U of A and worked as a marketing intern for Arizona Wildcat Hockey while a student. According to The Daily Breeze, Duarte’s immediate family was in Las Vegas over the weekend with her but didn’t attend the concert. Phone activity stopped at the time of the shooting, and her phone was later found out she wasn’t. Eventually, the horrible news of her death was confirmed.
On Wednesday before the Diamondback’s wildcard game, Duarte was honored by the team; she had worked for them last year.
The Los Angeles Kings also held a tribute on Thursday night during their opening game against the Philadelphia Flyers. The players will wear a CD sticker on their helmets and held a 50/50 raffle to help the victims of the Las Vegas shootings.
The last couple weeks have been tough ones for University of Arizona sports fans. Sports is an escape for most of us, but some of us take our teams pretty seriously, maybe too seriously. We wake up on cloud nine when we have beaten the Sun Devils the night before. We hang our heads when our football team misses a game-winning field goal. We anticipate one of the best basketball seasons possible, and then in moments, those dreams fall apart. Sports is a roller coaster as is life.
The loss of Christiana Duarte along with all the others suffering from Sunday’s shooting shakes us, but it also should lead us to focus on what is important. Christiana took no wins or losses with her Sunday night. What that dark, desperate evening left for us is a reminder of what is important. Outside of Mandalay Bay, there was no black or white, no Democrats or Republicans, no Wildcats or Sun Devils, just human beings enjoying life.
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There were thousands of Americans who came to the aid of others amid gigantic storms that hit Puerto Rico, Florida and Texas. We thank those who were heroes, we thank those who tried to save Christiana Duarte and all the others, and we send our condolences to all those who lost loved ones. Let’s move forward remembering to always take care of each other, in good times and in bad times.