GMSO Athletes Claim Special Olympics Regional Games Medals

Twenty Athletes with the Greater Middletown Special Olympics competed at the Special Olympics Connecticut-Eastern Regional Games hosted by the University of Hartford & Hartford Public High School in Hartford on Saturday, May 7, 2011. 

They were among 700 athletes from the Special Olympics Connecticut-Eastern Region who competed that day in track & field & swimming events.  The Head Track & Field Coach is Heather Ann Lodini of Cromwell with Terry Shepard of Middletown as the Assistant Coach.  The Athletes won Gold Medals for 1st Place, Silver Medals for 2nd Place, Bronze Medals for 3rd Place & Ribbons for 4th & 5th Places.  The following is an incomplete list of the results for the Greater Middletown Special Olympics Athletes from the games on Saturday:

Cromwell:

Ralph Lill won a 2nd Place in the 100 Meter Walk and the Softball Throw.  Kevin Henneberry won a 1st Place in the Softball Throw.  Scott Knee won a 1st Place in the 100 Meter Walk & a 3rd Place in 50 Meter Wal

Durham:

Charlie Larsen won a 4th Place Award in the 50 Meter Dash & the Softball Throw also a 5th Place Award in the 100 Meter Run.  Christopher Naples won a 2nd Place in the 50 M Race Walking & 100 M Race Walking and a 3rd Place in the Softball Throw.  Richard Steele won a 3rd Place in the 100 M Race Walking event.

Middlefield:

David Crovo won a 1st Place Award in the Shot Put event & 5th Place in the Standing Long Jump.  Indiana McCormick won a 2nd Place in the Shot Put, 3rd Place in the 100 M Run & 200 M Run, & 4th Place in the 4x400 M Relay Team with her teammates of Melissa Carta, Anna Kozinski & Tim Mohr all from Middletown.

Middletown:

James Brown won a 1st Place Award in the Running Long Jump and 3rd Place in the 4x400 M Unified Relay Team consisting of Athlete Bobby McElroy of Middletown with Special Partners Heather Ann Lodini & Joe Palumbo of Middletown.  Unified Sports is when athletes with & without disabilities compete on the same team.  

Melissa Carta won a 2nd Place in the Shot Put & 200 M Run along with 4th Place in the 4x400 M Run.

Ed Hill won a 3rd Place in the 50 M Dash & the Shot Put events.

Anna Kozinski won a 2nd Place in the Turbo Javelin, 3rd Place in 50 M Dash and 4th Place in the 4x400 M Run.

Scott Maloney won a 1st Place in the 50 M Walk, 2nd Place in the 100 M Walk, & 3rd Place in the Softball Throw.

Bobby McElroy won a 1st Place in the 200 M Run & 3rd Place in the 4x400 M Unified Relay with his teammates James Brown, Heather Ann Lodini & Joe Palumbo.

Tim Mohr won a 2nd Place in the Shot Put, 3rd Place in the 200 M Run and 4th Place in 4x400 M Relay with his teammates of Melissa Carta, Anna Kozinski & Indiana McCormick.

Essence Rios won three 1st Place Gold Medals in the Softball Throw, 100 M Run & the 200 M Run.

Katherine Thayer won a 2nd Place in the 100 M Walk & 200 M Walk & a 3rd Place in the Softball Throw.

Scott Thayer won a 1st Place in the Shot Put & 3rd Place in the Running Long Jump.

To view images of the Extraordinary Greater Middletown Special Olympics Athletes in action at the Special Olympics Connecticut-Eastern Regional Games please visit my Photography Blog at http://franklphotographyblog.blogspot.com by clicking on the link or copy & paste it in your window browser.

The next event for the Athletes in the Greater Middletown Special Olympics will be the Special Olympics Connecticut State Summer Games June 10-12, 2011 hosted by Southern Connecticut State University & Yale University in New Haven and the Hamden Hall School in Hamden.

The Greater Middletown Special Olympics serves athletes ages 8 & above with intellectual disabilities in a variety of well-coached Olympic Type Sports who reside in Cromwell, Durham, East Haddam, East Hampton, Haddam, Middlefield, Middletown & Portland.    For more information, please call Special Olympics Connecticut at 1-877-660-6667, 1-800-443-6105 or online at www.soct.org.