The Special Olympics track team qualified 14 out of 22 athletes for the state competition on June 10th through 12th at Illinois State University.
These 14 athletes finished in first place in their respective competitions.
• Jorge Huerta - 100 meter dash, running long jump, shot put, high jump, 400 meter run, and 4 x 100 relay • Jose Ugalde - running long jump, 4 x 100 meter relay • Mohammed Usman - running long jump and 4 x 100 meter relay • Ja'Launi Collins - shot put, 4 x 100 meter relay • Matthew Friedman - 800 meter run and 4 x 100 meter relay • Edwin Gonzalez - 4 x 100 meter relay • Austin Savickas - 200 meter run and 4 x 100 meter relay • Gabe Giraldo - 4 x 100 meter relay • Jantha Laemmer - running long jump, 100 meter dash • Kittiya Laemmer - shot put • Nicco Menozi - softball throw • Brianna Wroda - softball throw • Valerie Gutierrez - softball throw • Jon Hlavacek - standing long jump
Track and Field State Results Coaches - Kathy Craig, Michelle Ciullo, Latasha Chatman
• Jose Ugalde- Running Long Jump 3rd Place & 200 Meter Run 3rd Place • Ja’Launi Collins – Shot Put 5th Place & 200 Meter Run 3rd Place • Mohammad Usman – running Long Jump 5th Place & 200 Meter Run 4th Place • Edwin Gonzalez – Shot Put 6th Place & 200 Meter Run 4th Place • Matthew Friedman – Shot Put 5th Place and 800 Meter Run 6th Place • Austin Savickas – Softball Throw 3nd Place & 200 Meter Run 5th Place • Gabe Giraldo – Shot Put 4th Place & 200 Meter Run 6th Place • Kittiya Laemmer – Shot Put 4th Place & 200 Meter run 6th Place • Jantha Laemmer – Running Long Jump 6th Place & 100 Meter Dash 4th Place • Jorge Huerta – 2nd Place OVERALL in the Pentathlon (total of 5 events) Running Long Jump 1st Place High Jump 3rd Place 100 Meter Dash 2nd Place 400 Meter Run 1st Place Shot put 1st Place • Relay of Matthew Friedman, Austin Savickas, Gabe Girlado, and Edwin Gonzalez received 3rd Place • Relay of Ja’Launi Collins, Mohammad Usman, Jose Ugalde and Jorge Huerta received 2nd Place
Swimming State Results: Coached by Kraig Conyer
• Jon Hlavacek – 1st Place in the 50 Meter Freestyle • Cori Lesnik- 6th Place in the 25 Meter Backstroke & 3rd Place in the 25 Meter Freestyle • Valerie Gutierrez – 3rd Place in the 25 Meter Backstroke & 5th Place in the 25 Meter freestyle
Total Medal count for the weekend: Gold Medals – 4 Silver Medals – 3 Bronze Medals – 7 4th Place – 5 5th Place – 5 6th Place – 6
2015-2016 Special Olympics Basketball Highlights
Week of November 30th
Gold Team The team as a whole played really well defensively. This enabled us to come away with a split for the week.
Week of November 16th
Special Olympics Transition Team This week we only had games and so far we have won all our games. We are working on playing as a team and giving others chances. We enjoyed playing against Leyden.
Special Olympics Black Team We had one game this week versus Proviso Adults, we were able to get all of our players involved and passing the ball. Every player scored and even our newest member was able to get 2 baskets at her first game ever.
Week of November 9th
Transition Team Synopsis: Our practice was great the players were working together as a team and following a plan. We played in the Wheaton Warrenvile South Tournament on Sunday. Our first game, we had to work hard on not running up the score and not playing defense. This is hard for some and easier for others. Everyone on the team scored at least one basket. Our second game was a little more competitive, but we still outscored them.
Gold Team Summary: We played against OPRF. The team gave us a good challenge, but we lost a close game. The players were able to spread the points pretty evenly to all players. Then we played at the Wheaton Warrenville South Tournament and won both games. The first game vs. Jacobs we started slow and came back with a big lead in the second quarter to finish strong. The second game vs. Naperville 203 we scored consistently. We started to see some of our returning players step up and take the lead.
Black Team Summary: We played OPRF and took a hard loss. We played as a team and tried to get into a good rhythm but they just had some better players. At the Wheaton Warrenville South Tournament, we played vs. Naperville 203 and we were able to utilize our bench to get everyone equal playing time and bring home the W. Then we played West Chicago, they were a quick team who handled the ball well. Once we were able to get in sync the second Quarter we brought home the Win by capitalizing on their mistakes.