Dist. 15 Special Olympics athletes bring home the gold

The Blue Jays, District 15's Special Olympics team, amassed an impressive tally of medals over the course of their fall and winter sports seasons and are set to start their spring sports schedule.

Their year began with a gold-medal performance by Alison Barr, an eighth-grader at Carl Sandburg Junior High, in the area softball competition. Alison's gold medal qualified her to compete in the Fall State Games, but she chose not to advance further in the competition.

Later in the fall, Juan Rojas, a third-grader at Thomas Jefferson School, won two gold medals in bowling — one at the area competition and then another at the sectional tournament — to advance to the state bowling tournament, which, unfortunately, was cancelled this year due to inclement weather.

Then, when winter weather arrived, the district's snowshoeing team took off, winning 13 gold medals in the sectional competition.

Haley Scott, a third-grader at Stuart R. Paddock School; Justin Roach, a seventh-grader at Walter R. Sundling Junior High; Jericho Moy, a fourth-grader at Marion Jordan School; Malik Bradley-Henderson, a fifth-grader at Marion Jordan School; Andrew Mau, an eighth-grader at Carl Sandburg Junior High; and Josh Kurrie, a fourth-grader at Winston Campus Elementary, each won gold medals in both the 50-meter and 100-meter races, and Jovan Erickson, a fifth-grader at Marion Jordan School, in the 50-meter race.

Unfortunately, this competition ended their season, as the State Winter Games were also cancelled this year due to inclement weather.

Next up is the State Basketball Tournament, which will be held March 11-13 at Illinois State University in Normal, and Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington. The District sponsored two basketball teams this year, and one of them, the Blue Jays “T” team, qualified to compete in the state tournament by winning the silver medal at sectionals.

Blue Jays “T” team members are Alejandra Bostho, an eighth-grader at Walter R. Sundling Junior High; Scott Vollmert, a sixth-grader at Walter R. Sundling Junior High; Michael Maniola, a sixth-grader at Walter R. Sundling Junior High; Nathan Blume, a sixth-grader at Pleasant Hill School; Malik Bradley-Henderson, a fifth-grader at Marion Jordan School; Jovan Erickson, a fifth-grader at Marion Jordan School; and Haley Scott, a third-grader at Stuart R. Paddock School.

-Story submitted by Community Consolidated School District 15