Ten athletes from Columbia High School and Jefferson Middle School dominated the 2020 Fall State Special Olympics virtual games last week.
The athletes include Camron Henderson, Aja’s Brown, Sierra Morgan, Irreona Lewis, Miracle Graves, Zachary Lowery, A’Jayden Bullock, Jacen Labouve, Jaylen Magee and Ma’Kia Lewis, and all of them received awards for their skill during a presentation Thursday morning at the high school.
“It was really fun,” Graves said.
Henderson took first place in the 25-yard dash with a blazing 2.8-second run. Lowery (4.2 seconds), Bullock (4.33), Graves (5.1), Ma’Kia Lewis (5.1), Irreona Lewis (5.5), Morgan (6.2), Magee (7.2), Labouve (9.0) and Brown (12.0) also placed in the event.
In the soccer kick event, nearly every athlete tied for first place with Bullock, Brown, Henderson, Ma’Kia Lewis, Ireonna Lewis, Magee, Graves, Morgan and Lowery making five goals each; Labouve tied for second with four goals.
Henderson took first place in the standing long jump with a leap of 99 inches, with Bullock not far behind in the third place at 86 inches. Ma’Kia Lewis (49 inches), Graves (47), Labouve (44), Lowery (43) and Ireonna Lewis (42) placed within in the Top 12, while Morgan jumped 37 inches and Magee 28.
Columbia’s athletes dominated the softball toss, taking first, second and third in the event. Henderson, who finished first in every event, led the way with a throw of 150 feet, followed by Lowery with 129 feet and Bullock with 120 feet. Labouve, Graves, Morgan (75 feet each) and Ma’Kia Lewis (60 feet) also placed in the Top 10. Magee (36 feet), Ireonna Lewis (32) and Brown (24) rounded out the event.
Henderson said it felt good to do so well in the events, and it was real fun participating.
In preparation for the event, the athletes were trained by student coaches, and CHS Principal Braxton Stowe said they did a great job considering how well the athletes did. He thanked the athletes for representing the school well and congratulated them on their success.
Because of the pandemic, the usual three-day event at Camp Shelby was cancelled so the games were coordinated to be done virtually. The Paw Prints staff at CHS filmed the athletes participating in the events and submitted it to the Special Olympics of Mississippi organization to be scored.
School Nurse Vicky Ginn said it is her goal to one day make CHS a Unified Champion School where students with disabilities participate in events with students without disabilities to promote inclusion.
“I would love to see unified sports offered to our students at some point,” she said. “We are looking forward to being able to do more of these events, and as restrictions are lifted start some team events. The revolution is inclusion.
The Mississippi Army National Guard donated game day T-shirts to all of the athletes and student coaches, and the CHS Marching Wildcats formed a victory line to play as they headed to opening ceremonies.
