Hope Lewellen
Height: 5-5
Weight: 160
Current Residence: Palos Park, Ill.
College: Lewis University
PERSONAL: Born Hope Esparza Lewellen on April 20, 1967 in Harvey, Ill. ... Parents are James and Hope Lewellen... Hope has a brother named James and a sister named Marcia... Hope graduated from Carl Sandburg High School in Orland Park in 1985... She competed in softball (four years), basketball (four years) and swimming (one year) in high school and was all-conference in softball... She graduated from Lewis University in 1987 with a degree in Aviation... She competed in softball in college for one year... Hope lost her leg in an accident while working as an airplane mechanic... She competed in the 1996 Paralympics in Atlanta and won a silver medal in wheelchair tennis... She was a quarterfinalist in wheelchair tennis at the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney... Hope competed in the 2002 World Cup for wheelchair basketball and also was on the World Cup team for wheelchair tennis for eight years... Hope was on the women's sitting volleyball team that won the bronze medal at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens... Hope has volunteered hundreds of hours to kid's camps and programs all over the United States. She helped establish women's basketball and tennis programs for the disabled at the University of Arizona... Hope reads "anything I can get my hands on."... She listens to "everything from Korn, Smashing Pumpkins, Foo Fighters, Marilyn Manson to dance stuff and even opera"... Her favorite movies are Without Limits and Prefontaine, both about her favorite Olympian, runner Steve Prefontaine... Hope's role model is Mathias Rust, a German who flew his airplane into Red Square in 1987.
MAJOR INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION: 2009 - Eurocup (Gold Medal). 2008 - Paralympic Games in Beijing (silver medal)... World Organization Volleyball for Disabled (WOVD) Intercontinental Cup in Ismailia, Egypt (bronze medal). 2004 - Paralympic Games in Athens (bronze medal). Hope has also played in several exhibition matches, both international and domestic, with the U.S. team.
INTERNATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS: 2008 - Hope won a silver medal as a member of the U.S. team at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing... Appeared in two matches in the tournament, both wins over Latvia and Lithuania.
