Riverside Brookfield High School students took home a handful of gold and silver medals at the Illinois Special Olympics last month.
Keith Miller, associate teacher and coaching assistant, said the team — consisting of students Issaih Gaytan, Khamyra Gunn, Antonio King, Blaine Sharenow and Ivan Sofeski — took first place in the four-by-100-meter relay race.
Gaytan took home the gold in the individual 100-meter dash with a time of 12.36 seconds while Gunn and Sofeski earned silver medals in the softball throw, and Sofeski earned a second silver medal for the 50-meter dash.
In the decade or so that Miller has worked at RB, he said this year’s crop was the largest number of students the school had sent to the state competition following their strong performances and first placements at this year’s regional competition in Aurora.
The Special Olympics hosts a number of competitions throughout the year for athletes with intellectual disabilities, with the state Summer Games happening each year in June. This year, they took place from Friday, June 12, to Sunday, June 14. Miller said the students from RB participated on both Friday and Saturday that weekend.
“They’re grouped by disability … so it’s an even playing field for all the athletes,” Miller told the Landmark. “Our kids have gone downstate in the sectional. In the running races, if it’s like any track meet, they have eight competitors in each section. In softball, it depends on how many are in their heat. There can be anywhere from, I think, four to as many as eight [competitors].”
He said this year was the first time RB’s Special Olympics team took home a gold medal in the relay race event and that Gaytan was the school’s first student to win the 100-meter dash at the state level.
Leading up to the events, Miller said his students acted and felt “just like any athlete.”
“They’re nervous going into it, you know? They’re antsy, they’re walking around,” he said. “When they win, I mean, the excitement between them and the parents is unbelievable. It’s so rewarding to see these guys realize they just won state in their event, and the parents are the same way.”
Miller said the group begins training in earnest in March, although many members of the team are yearlong athletes.
“It gives a chance for athletes in the special education to compete in athletics, also. Besides track, we also have a basketball team that competes in the Special Olympics against other schools,” he said.
The event gives some kids the chance to show off their skills among their peers, like Gaytan, who ran track on the RB boys team in the last school year, Miller said. For other students, it gives them the confidence to go out for those team sports.
“What’s really exciting is Antonio King, who was a freshman this year, after doing the Special Olympics, he’s actually going out for the cross-country team next fall,” Miller said.
The team is led by coach Melissa Hammer, Miller said, who also works as a transition specialist at the high school, assisting students in the special education program for up to four years after graduation in learning life skills and finding employment.
“Those kids learn how to make lunches every day in school. They go shopping; they go out in the community,” Miller said. “We’ve had a lot of employers in the area that let students come in and work, and sometimes we’ve got coaches or an instructor with them. Other times, once they get the rhythm of it, then they’re on their own.”
Normally, Hammer is assisted by para-educator Bill Delre, Miller said, but this year, Delre had conflicting schedules due to coaching the baseball team.
“I’ve known Melissa and Bill for a long time, and I’m like, ‘You know what? I’ll come and help out. It’s not a big deal.’ I went and helped out. I just enjoy working with [the students],” Miller said.
He said that students who earn a medal at the Special Olympics earn a permanent spot on RB’s wall of fame alongside fully able students who earn medals at their state sports competitions.
“When they see their pictures up there, they get so excited,” he said.
