GMSO Athletes Sweep Special Olympics Summer Games With 17 First-Place Awards

The Greater Middletown Special Olympics Athletes Swept the Special Olympics Connecticut State Summer Games in New Haven winning 17 first-place awards, 10 second-place awards, and eight third-place awards. In all, 18 athletes from the Greater Middletown Special Olympics competed at the games that were hosted by Southern Connecticut State Universtiy, Yale University in New Haven and the Hamden Hall School in Hamden June 10-12.  

The Head Track and Field Coach is Heather Ann Lodini of Cromwell, the Assistant Coach is Terry Shepard of Middletown and the Head Cycling Coach is Jim Swol of Cromwell.  

Overall, the Greater Middletown Special Olympics Athletes improved upon their standing at the State Summer Games from the Regional Games that were held on May 7.  In the two relay events the traditional 4x100 M Relay and the 4x100 M Unified Relay both teams won a first place gold medal at the Summer Games.  

At the Special Olympics Regional Games on May 7,  the Unified Team won a 3rd Place award and the traditional 4x100 M Relay won a 4th Place award there.  When the athletes on the Unified Team were asked how they felt when they won their 1st Place award at the Special Olympics CT State Summer Games both athletes James Brown and Bobby McElroy responded with "It feels good!"

New GMSO Athlete Indiana McCormick of Middlefield who competed on the traditional 4x100 M Relay with her teammates Melissa Carta, Anna Kozinski & Tim Mohr was very happy with her 1st Place award by stating "It felt very good to win a first-place award!"

The following are the results from the Special Olympics Connecticut State Summer Games: 

Cromwell

Kevin Henneberry:  100 M Racewalking-1st Place, Softball Throw-1st Place, 50 Meter Run-3rd Place.

Scott Knee:  50 Meter Racewalking-1st Place, 100 M Racewalking-2nd Place, Softball Throw-2nd Place.

Ralph Lill:  50 M Racewalking-1st Place, 100 M Racewalking-1st Place; Softball Throw-4th Place.

Durham

Chris Naples:  50 M Racewalking-2nd Place, 100 M Racewalking-2nd Place, Softball Throw-4th Place.

Richard Steele: 100 M Racewalking-3rd Place.

Middlefield

David Crovo:  Turbo Javelin-1st Place, Shot-Put-1st Place, Standing Long Jump-2nd Place.

Indiana McCormick:  Shot-Put-4th Place, 200 M Run-6th Place, 4x100 M Run-1st Place she won this award with her teammates Anna Kozinski, Melissa Carta & Tim Mohr.

Middletown

James Brown: Running Long Jump-2nd Place; 4x100 M Unified Relay with Athlete Bobby McElroy, Special Partners Head Track & Field Coach Heather Ann Lodini & Joe Palumbo-1st Place.

Melissa Carta:  Shot-Put-1st Place, 100 M Run-3rd Place, 200 M Run-4th Place, 4x100 M Run-1st Place.

Ken Campanelli:  15 K Cycling Timetrials on Saturday he won a 3rd Place Bronze Medal and on Sunday he improved his standing and won a 2nd Place Silver Medal for this event.

Ed Hill:  Shot Put- 2nd Place, Turbo Javelin-3rd Place, & 50 M Dash-5th Place.

Anna Kozinski: Turbo Javelin-1st Place, 50 M Dash-5th Place, & 4x100 M Run-1st Place.

Scott Maloney:  50 M Racewalking:  3rd Place, Softball Throw-3rd Place.

Bobby McElroy:  Softball Throw-1st Place, 4x100 M Unified Relay-1st Place, 100 M Run-2nd Place, 200 M Run-4th Place.

Tim Mohr:  4x100 M Relay-1st Place, 100 M Run-5th Place, 200 M Run-5th Place, Shot-Put-5th Place.

Essence Rios:  100 M Run-1st Place, 200 M Run-1st Place, Softball Throw-2nd Place.

Katherine Thayer:  200 M  Racewalking-2nd Place, Softball Throw-3rd Place.

Scott Thayer:  Shot-Put-1st Place, Turbo Javelin-3rd Place, Running Long Jump-4th Place.

To View more images of the extraordinary GMSO Athletes from the Special Olympics Connecticut Summer Games please visit Frank LoGiudice's Photography Blog.

The next event for the athletes in the Greater Middletown Special Olympics will be the SOCT-Eastern Regional Bowling Qualifier in East Hartford on Nov. 6 and then the Holiday Sports Classic Nov. 19-20. Bowling Practices will begin in the fall.

The Greater Middletown Special Olympics is looking for potential athletes ages 8 and above who could benefit from the many athletic events of the Special Olympics.  It serves athletes with intellectual disabilities ages 8 and above in a variety of well-coached Olympic type sports who reside in Cromwell, Durham, East Haddam, East Hampton, Haddam, Middlefield, Middletown and Portland.  

Volunteers are needed, too. Call (800) 443-6105 or (877) 660-6667 or see http://soct.org.

Special Olympics is an international organization that changes lives by encouraging and empowering people with intellectual disabilities, promoting acceptance for all, and fostering communities of understanding and respect worldwide. Founded in 1968 by Eunice Kennedy-Shriver, the Special Olympics movement has grown from a few hundred athletes to nearly 3.7 million athletes in over 170 countries in all regions of the world, providing year-round sports training, athletic competition, health screenings, and other related programs.

Special Olympics provides people with intellectual disabilities continuing opportunities to realize their potential, develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and friendship. Please Visit the Special Olympics website at http://specialolympics.org and http://soct.org.