Special Olympics featured at region meet

PALMER - Earlier this year, Palmer High School teamed with Special Olympics Alaska to create a new tradition.

Added to the list of events at the Palmer Relays track and field meet, was a handful of Special Olympics competitions. The Special Olympics events were a success at the Relays, and now they have been added to the agenda of the Northern Lights Conference track and field championships, hosted by PHS this weekend.

Palmer head track and field coach Dale Ewart said, not only did he see a good turnout of Special Olympics athletes, he also saw a great response from the

spectators.

Ewart said it was not uncommon to see as many as 20 or 30 people crowded in a small area of the field to see the Special Olympics athletes compete in events such as the shot put.

As part of the Special Olympics programs, student-athletes had the opportunity to compete in the 400-meter relay, 100, long jump and shot put. In three of those events - the 400, long jump and shot put - the Special Olympics athletes from each school joined members of their respective track team to make up a Unified Sports team.

Unified Sports is a Special Olympics program that combines student-athletes with intellectual disabilities together with student-athletes without intellectual disabilities. Those without a diagnosed intellectual disability are called partners, and act as mentors for the Special Olympics athletes. The Unified teams combine Special Olympics athletes and partners of similar age and ability, and each Unified team competes against other Unified teams.

Unified Sports is a trademark of Special Olympics.

Ewart said Palmer has a solid corps of Unified teams, and attributed much of the success of the Moose Special Olympics athletes to Michelle Nielsen, who helped coach the teams throughout the year.

&#8220She did a great job. The kids love her a lot,” Ewart said. &#8220She put in a lot of extra time and effort. It's a neat event.”

Several Palmer athletes placed in the Unified events. Clay Jensen and his partner Rachel Debates finished fourth in the Unified shot put. Jensen and partner Jessica Pratt finished second in the Unified long jump. Jensen, Mac Phillips and their partners Pratt and Colby Nielsen finished second in the Unified relay. Pearl Weaver, Kristina Collins and their partners Shanelle Nielsen and Debates finished sixth in the relays.

In the Special Olympics 100-meter dash, Jensen finished third and Phillips finished fifth in the boys race. Kyle Berg also participated.

In the girls 100, Weaver was third and Collins was

fifth.

Ewart said hopes to see Special Olympics and Unified Sports become a permanent part of track and field events such as the Palmer Relays.

The state championships next week at West Valley High School in Fairbanks will also include events for the Special Olympics athletes.