Special Olympians represented at Summer Games

The bowling team. Photo Contributed.

Special Olympics Rutherford County (SORC) participated in the Summer Games in Raleigh June 2-4. The contingent of folks going to Raleigh included 12 athletes and 1 Unified Partner, coaches, family and friends. Athletes competed in basketball, gymnastics and bowling events.

Athletes and their wins are:

• Aiden Hollifield- Basketball Skills: Bronze Medal

• Tea Crawford- Gymnastics: Bars- Bronze, Beam- Gold, Floor- Gold, Vault- 4th, All Around- Silver;

• Yanessa Ortiz, Cassandra Collier, Amanda Whiteside, Amber Dysert, and Kato Porter- Bowling Team: 4th Place

• Michael Cobb and Steven Camp- Bowling Doubles: Bronze

• Billy Callahan and Erick Grondahl- Bowling Doubles: Gold

• Zackery Arrowood and Jack Kennedy- Unified Bowling Doubles: Bronze.

Alison Dorsey Kennedy, Exceptional Children's Teacher for the Rutherford County Schools, is the coordinator and leader of the Special Olympics teams.

Tiffany Arrowood commented on her Facebook post about the weekend. "Zackery (Arrowood) competed in Unified Bowling Doubles with Jack Kennedy. They bowled yesterday and today. I am so proud of them coming in 3rd. Zackery had a great time between the opening ceremony, bowling, the dance. I am so thankful to Allison Dorsey Kennedy for making sure they get this chance to show their abilities and for recommending Zackery bowl with Jack."

Rutherford County's athletes were among 1,300 Special Olympics athletes and Unified partners, individuals without intellectual disabilities, from across the state competing in athletics, basketball, bowling, gymnastics, powerlifting, swimming and volleyball. As the Special Olympics of North Carolina's largest state-level competition, athletes competed at various venues in Raleigh, Cary and Holly Springs.

To ensure fair competition, the athletes were placed in competition divisions based on age, gender and ability level. Gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded to the top three finishers in each division, followed by fourth through eighth-place ribbons.

The Law Enforcement Torch Run® for Special Olympics North Carolina (NC LETR) Final Leg of the Torch Run Relay opened the 2023 SONC Summer Games during the Opening Ceremony on Friday, June 2 at Reynolds Coliseum on the campus of North Carolina State University at 7:30 p.m. During the Opening Ceremony, law enforcement officials presented the Circle of Honor and lit the cauldron, signifying the official opening of the Games.

As Special Olympics athletes are not asked to pay for any of the costs associated with their participation, an event of this size requires a vast amount of resources, including the support of nearly 1,000 volunteers. SONC extends its gratitude to the many individual volunteers, groups, individual sponsors and corporate sponsors that made this event such a success.