Two dozen teens, caked in mud, soaked in sweat, sat in the grass at Sunset Park. Although it was just after 9 a.m., the temperature was already nearing the triple digits. The kids' minds weren't on the heat. They were all focused on the list on the clipboard in Marie Tomao's hands. It would tell each if their summer of hard work and determination had been enough to earn a spot in the 2010 Devil Pups Camp scheduled for the U.S. Marines' Camp Pendleton, near San Diego.

The group began with more than 50 members, but heat, exhaustion and an inability to find the drive to push beyond their limitations had culled out all but these few. Tomao, the liaison for the Southern Nevada Devil Pups, has watched this scenario play out over many summers. Her group is allotted 19 spaces at the leadership camp, 15 boys and four girls.