AMES — The sports world is no exception to tragedies but on Wednesday night, Celia Barquin Arozamena’s vigil was a celebration of the person the former championship golfer was.
The lawn in front of The Campanile flooded with teammates, coaches, former opponents, classmates, friends, her boyfriend, her professors and so many more.
The people who loved her cried and laughed together, while simply embracing one another as they shared the stories that embodied who Celia was.
As someone who never had the chance to meet her, I can tell you from what was shared that Celia was funny, quirky, passionate and made time for the people she loved – even if it meant eating pizza when she was trying out a new diet. She saw golf as a gift God gave her and poured her heart into it, even if it meant waking up before the sun came up to practice.
Celia will be remembered as the girl who lit up a room with her smile in lecture halls full of engineering students where a smile was rare. She loved the Cyclones, the color yellow and wanted to marry her boyfriend.
It’s a sad time but the people who loved her shared that the good in this world will outshine the bad.
Celia’s boyfriend shared the story of how they came to be boyfriend and girlfriend / Jacqueline CordovaThe golf team and their head coach share an embrace / Jacqueline CordovaCards were set out for people to write memories about Celia to be sent to her family in Spain / Jacqueline CordovaCelia’s teammates comfort each other / Jacqueline CordovaGolfers from Northwestern came to comfort the Iowa State golf team in their time of grief / Jacqueline CordovaPeople who loved Celia share memories to be sent to her family in Spain / Jacqueline CordovaMemories and tears mixed together as everyone filled out notes to be sent to Celia’s family / Jacqueline CordovaMembers of the Iowa State cheerleading squad came to remember Celia / Jacqueline CordovaIowa State softball players linked arms as they remembered Celia / Jacqueline Cordova
Jacqueline graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in Journalism and Mass Communications. She has been fortunate enough to have interned for Cyclone Fanatic for 2 and a half years before being promoted to stay on. She currently wears a lot of hats at Cyclone Fanatic: Social Media Director, Iowa State Wrestling beat reporter, and staff photographer. Jacqueline loves reading and watching trash reality TV shows when she's not watching sports. One of her favorite accomplishments is having interned for the Minnesota Vikings and during Super Bowl LII.
