After being canceled last year due to the pandemic, the Special Olympics Kentucky Area 3& 9 Track and Field Meet returned last month, with more than 80 athletes from Carter, Floyd, Johnson, Lawrence, Magoffin and Rowan Counties participating in events at Johnson Central High School in Paintsville.
This was one of eight regional meets held in Kentucky this year, with more than 500 athletes expected to participate across the state.
Local athletes placing in the events included:
- Anthony Butler, 100-meter dash, second place; softball throw, second place
- Matthew Franks, 100-meter dash, first place; 50-meter dash, second place
- Jason Gee, 100-meter dash, second place; 400-meter dash, first place
- Leandra Gollihue, 100-meter dash, first place; 50-meter dash, second place
- Brandon Groves, 100-meter dash, third place; 50-meter dash, second place
- Dylan Hodge, 100-meter dash, first place; 50-meter dash, first place
- Morgan Jones, 400-meter dash, first place; 50-meter dash, first place
- Skyler Kouns, 100-meter dash, third place; 50-meter dash, third place
- Danny Mohrman, 100-meter dash, second place; 200-meter dash, first place
- Alex Music, 100-meter dash, second place; 50-meter dash, third place.
Placements represent an athlete’s performance in their particular heat, not across the board.
All participants in the Spring Games automatically qualify to compete in the Special Olympics Kentucky State Summer Games, June 5 at EKU in Richmond.
For more information about the Special Olympics track and field program, contact Special Olympics Vice President of Field and Athlete Services, Kim Satterwhite, at 1-800-633-7403 or via email at ksatterwhite@soky.org.