Suburban residents ready to compete at national Special Olympics

With an opening and closing ceremony, a torch lighting and a parade of athletes, the Special Olympics National Games this week offer as much pageantry as their international counterpart, only with even more compelling stories.

For only the second time, the United States will have mounted its own national games. The first took place in 2006 in Ames, Iowa, on the campus of Iowa State University.

This time, opening ceremonies took place Sunday, during a ceremony at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus. It featured the more than 3,000 athletes from 48 states and was telecast statewide.

As it is, the games are the largest event in the history of Nebraska, officials say.

Among the parade of Special Olympians was the delegation from Team Illinois, which included 19 athletes and coaches from the surrounding suburbs.

Representing the Northwest suburbs are: Nicole Brickwood of Palatine, Aaron Drescher of Inverness, Joel Gomez and John Terrelli of Elk Grove Village, Sara LaPorte of Mount Prospect, Ela Stoklosa of Wheeling, Maria Torres of Mount Prospect, Coach Vicki Mann of Schaumburg and Coach Erin Newport of Palatine.

From Lake and McHenry counties are: Alex Fortunato of Cary, Hannah Brown of Fox River Grove, Melanie Harwood of Libertyville and Coach David Dauphin of Crystal Lake.

Representing DuPage, Kane and Kendall counties are: Dain Miller of St. Charles, Robert Novicki of Wheaton, Ronald Kamper and Coach Matt Corso of Naperville, Christopher Rinaldi of Roselle and Coach Mike Younie of Aurora.

They will compete in aquatics, basketball, bocce, bowling, golf, powerlifting, softball and tennis. As for their Olympic village, the athletes stay in residence halls on campus.

Even their trip to the games was historic, as most of the athletes were flown to Lincoln on board donated private jets as part of the Cessna Citation Special Olympics Airlift, which left Saturday from Central Illinois Regional Airport.

"This is an opportunity for the U.S. athletes to be part of a huge Olympic event," said Barbara DiGuido of Special Olympics Illinois. "It's a chance for them to participate in something bigger than their regional and state competitions, and experience all the pomp and ceremony that are part of the Olympic Games."

Melanie Harwood of Libertyville was a spectator at the World Games in 1999 in North Carolina when she was an alternate. Ever since, she has dreamed of returning as an athlete.

This year, she will when she competes in track events, including the 800-meter run, the 1500-meter and 4x400-meter relay and long jump.

"The long distance events are my favorite," said Harwood, 28. "I just figure out how many times I have to run around the loop and try and stay focused."

Cheering her on will be her coach and younger sister, Corina, who at 24, has watched and helped train her sister for as long as she can remember.

As a dancer and pageant competitor who has competed three times in the Miss Illinois Pageant, Corina Harwood placed as second runner-up this year with her platform, "Brave in the Attempt."

Corina Harwood said that line is taken from the end of the Special Olympics oath, and that watching and being around Special Olympians all these years turned out to inspire herself in her own battle with leukemia.

She recently found out she is in complete remission after a yearlong battle with the disease, but enduring the effects of her treatment made her think of all of the things Special Olympians endure to compete.

"Luckily, I've been able to model the most graceful competitors," Corina Harwood said, "and take a lesson from their confidence and positive attitudes they faithfully display."

Another family story playing out this week is the unified golf team of Chris Rinaldi, 30, of Roselle paired with his dad, Roy.

Competing in the unified format, they will play 18 holes together. Each will play their own ball on every hole and then take their aggregate score.

Coach Ann Roytek-Rylko, with the Northeast DuPage Special Recreation Association, says the father and son team make quite a pair. She describes Chris Rinaldi as a natural golfer, whose left-handed swing can drive the ball nearly 175 yards.

"But the best part of his game is on the greens," Roytek-Rylko said. "He's learning to read his putts, but Dad's there to confirm his reads."

Leading up to the games, they have golfed together every week, and often can be seen giving each other fist bumps after sinking a putt.

"They need each other. You'll never see one on the course without the other," Roytek-Rylko said. "They are best friends."

Follow the events and athletes at the National Games website, www.2010specialolympics.org. Information is also available on the Illinois website, www.soill.org.