The Allen County School District was represented well by 23 Special Olympics student-athletes last weekend at the Kentucky State Special Olympics Games Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond. The delegation including 21 students from the Allen County-Scottsville High School (ACSH), the James E. Bazzell Middle School (JEBMS), the Allen County Intermediate Center (ACIC) and the Allen County Primary Center (ACPC) along with two independent participants.
The Allen County Schools track and field had 10 participants: Makayla Blankenship (ACIC) earned a silver medal in the 50 meter dash and softball throw. Shawn Brown received a participant ribbon in the 50m walk and a bronze medal in softball throw. Mark Anthony Gonzalez (ACSH) earned a gold medal in the 50m walk and a silver medal in softball throw. Holly Grizzle (JEBMS) placed fourth in the 50m dash and received a bronze medal in softball throw.
Brittany Gunter (ACIC) earned the gold medal in the 100m dash and a gold medal in the softball throw. Destiny Roach (ACIC) received a gold medal in the 50m dash and a silver medal in softball throw. Emilie Shelby (JEBMS) placed fifth in the 50m dash and a silver medal in softball throw. Ciera Smalling (ACIC) received a silver medal in the 50m dash and a gold medal for standing long jump. Jacob Waters (ACIC) earned the gold medal in the 50m dash and a silver medal in softball throw. Colton Woods (ACIC) received a ribbon for sixth place in the 100m dash and a gold medal in the softball throw.
Coaches included Emily Adams, Ruthanne Blankenship, Savannah Gregory, Hannah Guy, Kacy Luttrell, Julie Johnson, Laura Rector, Leann Thomas and Pat Witcher
In the art category, the results (and the school they represented) included first place award winners Sophia Alford (ACSH), Makayla Blankenship (ACIC), Lucy Celsor (ACIC), Brittany Gunter (ACIC), Wesley Jones (ACSH), Piper Kadwell (ACPC), J.T. Saylors (ACSH), Ciera Smalling (ACIC) and Jacob Waters (ACIC).
Second place winners were Matthew Arnold (ACSH), Shawn Brown (ACIC), Mark Anthony Gonzalez (ACSH), Jordyn Snodgrass (ACIC), Seth Tollefson (ACSH), and Xavier Wooten (JEBMS).
Third place winners included J,J, Frost (ACSHS), Willie Guess (JEBMS), Nicholas Huff (ACPC), and Colton Woods (ACIC). The fourth place winners were Holly Grizzle (JEBMS), Nicholas Mandrell (ACIC), Misty McClusky (ACSH), Jacob Strode (JEBMS), and Wyatt Thomason (ACSHS). Fifth place winners were Trey Helmes (ACPC) and Treshawn Morris (JEBMS) with Dawson Wolfe (JEBMS) bringing home a seventh place finish.
In swimming, the Allen County Patriot Pacers had 11 participants with the swimmers earning multiple awards in the water. Their results included Sophia Alford, a silver medal in the 100m freestyle, a gold medal in the 50m breaststroke and a gold medal in the 4x50 freestyle Relay. Matthew Arnold placed fifth in the 25m backstroke, earned a bronze medal in the 25m freestyle and received a gold medal in the 4X25 unified freestyle relay.
Austin Green received a 15m kickboard race participant ribbon and a silver medal in the 25m transitional freestyle. Wesley Jones earned a bronze medal in the 100m backstroke and a bronze medal in the 100m freestyle and a gold medal in the 4x50m freestyle relay. Zayne Logsdon received a silver medal in the 50m freestyle, a bronze medal in the 50m backstroke and a gold medal in the 4x50m freestyle relay.
Misty McClusky received the gold medal in the 15m kickboard and a silver medal in the 25m transitional Freestyle. J.T. Saylors received the bronze medal in the 25m transitional backstroke and a gold medal in the 25m transitional freestyle. Jacob Strode earned a silver medal in the 15m kickboard Race and a silver medal in the 15m unassisted swims.
Wyatt Thomason received the bronze medal in the 50m backstroke, fifth place in the 50m freestyle and a gold medal in the 4x50 freestyle relay. Seth Tollefson received silver in the 50m backstroke, fourth place in the 50m freestyle, and a gold medal in the 4x25 unified freestyle. Dawson Wolfe earned a gold medal in the 25m transitional backstroke and 25m transitional freestyle.
Coaches of the Patriot Pacers are Kayla Arnold, Brittany Atnip, Brian Atnip, Beverly Gregory, Melissa Turner, Chris Jones, Tracy Butler and Kelley Wanta.
The weekend included Wyatt Thomason and Sophia Alford---along with coach Tracy Butler---representing the Patriot Pacers in opening ceremonies. Zayne Logsdon and Holly Grizzle (with coach Pat Witcher) represented track and field from Allen County Schools. Jon Collado with Collado Independent also participated with Tiffany Foster Independent receiving Gold and Bronze Medals in her events.