112 Athletes Compete at State Level, Record Set by Local
The culmination of a Special Olympics sports season is the state competition. After months of training, 58 track and field athletes, 15 softball players, 12 swimmers, and 27 bocce players spent three June days participating in the Maryland Summer Games competition at Towson University. They were joined by over 1700 athletes from around the state to compete in their chosen sport.
The unified softball team, led by coaches Aggie Price and Jim Hawkins, competed against teams from Frederick, Prince George’s, and Baltimore County. The team played 5 games over the weekend to capture the gold, but it did not come easy. The team relied on their strong defense, pitching, good bats, and excellent teamwork to be victorious. Pitcher Bobby Thompson didn’t give up a walk for the entire tournament and had 6 strike outs. First baseman Annah Rice played incredibly, scooping up and catching hard fast balls to first for outs. “No errors were made at first base which was a key defensively in winning this game,” noted Coach Price. Consistent batters were Billy Thompson, Robbie Thompson, Sam Huffman, Daniel Simpson, and Marc Rinaldo. Playing new positions and doing well at it were Joe Quade and Jimmy Hawkins. Steven Summerfelt was unfortunately injured in the first game and wasn’t able to complete the tournament. Congratulations team on a job well done.
The bocce athletes played singles, 2-person teams, and 2-person unified teams. The players demonstrated patience and strategy, resulting in several gold medals. Each player competed in two games each day. Coach Gene Thompson commented, “whether the athlete was seasoned or new this year, they all played well under the stress of competition. The change in surface [from grass to artificial turf] didn’t affect their accuracy and they were successful.” Head Coach Serge Lefebvre provided Bocce Official support during the event.
The St. Mary’s aquatics teams swam in a variety of events this year including free style, back-stroke, butterfly, breaststroke, and relays. They definitely made their coaches proud by bringing home gold, silver, bronze, and ribbon awards. Aquatics Head Coach Pam Pederson commented, “Our swimmers were exceptional this weekend. We couldn’t have asked for a better team.” This year’s aquatics program attracted more athletes than ever before, increasing the level of competition and encouraged the athletes to ‘step it up a notch.’ They are already planning for next year. A notable achievement Shaun Ridley won 4 gold medals (50 and 100 m freestyle and 50 m backstroke and the 4x50m freestyle (with Rebecca Elwell, Barry Burris, and Kyle Russel).
In track and field, athletes competed in three events and a relay from the field of 50, 100, 200, and 400 meter runs, the throwing events of shotput, mini javelin, and softball, running, standing, and high jumps, and relays. Unfortunately head Track Coach Joe Owens could not make the competition due to a recent surgery. However, with the great practice preparation, desire, and the great work and motivation of Track coach Lisa Owens (acting head coach) the St. Mary's track athletes out ran, out threw and out jump the previous year's competitions. Athlete Larry Mills set a personal best for shotput at 11.9 meters. He is one of 5 pentathlon athletes from St. Mary’s who compete for points in 5 different events. Other pentathlon athletes are Thomas Smith, Terrel Nowlin, Jeremy Toney, and Wayne Carter. The girls dominated the running events: Emoni Butler won the Gold medal in the 400 meter and 200 meter with times - 30 seconds for the 200 (best female time) and 1 minute 16 for the 400 (best overall time. Tanesha Davis won her 100 m race with a time of 13.7 time (fastest female time of the day). Samantha Oliver won gold in one of the most exciting races of the day with a time of 14.1 seconds. Avery Long out threw and out jump his previous best with a shotput of 9.31 m and a long jump of 4.46 m earning him 2 gold medals. Other notable gold medals include Joey Owens in 200 m (almost 4 seconds faster than his qualifying), Keagan Zimmerman shotput (almost 1 meter over his qualifying), and Mni-Jav throwers Angelica Ringhold and Amy Trowbridge ( 3 and 4 meter overs respectively over qualifying). St. Mary's excelled in the relays, 4X100 Relay teams of (Nowling, Smith, Long and Mills), (Toney, Zimmerman, Oliver, and Chris Gibson), (Karla Kless, Trish, Baynard, Vicki Trossbach, and Jeff Hagen) and (Kristen Klear, Michelle Haley, Scarlett Cundiff, and Michelle Johnson) all won gold.
The St. Mary’s County program is grateful for the support of several organizations who helped them prepare for the state-wide competition – Great Mills High School (track use), St. Mary’s Recreation and Parks (Chancellor’s Run softball field and the Great Mills Pool), and the Law Offices of Norris and Dudderar (lawn for bocce). A special thanks to the coaches, volunteers, and family members who worked so hard to make this a wonderful event for our athletes.
