Thirty-six members of the Augusta Stars, a Special Olympics Georgia agency competed in bocce and cycling Oct. 17-18 in the Special Olympics Georgia Fall Games at Freedom Park in Valdosta.
The traditional team of Bryson Fuller, Erica Rothwell, Darryl Lucas and Samual McAllister went undefeated to win gold. Michael Bonnett, Jacob Herndon, Jessalyn Gilmore and Zachary Gilmore earned silver. The team of Ashlyn Price, Angela Campbell, Brandy Storey and Cindy Isbell brought home bronze. The teams of Eric Barclay, Wendy Barker, Stacey Yarbrough and Matthew Henning and Gary Smith, Mikeala Smith, Robert White and Theresa Nixon took fourth.
The unified team of Raven Allen, Kim Way, Donny Way and Amanda Soares won gold.
Cyclists compete on a round track that is approximately 1/5th of a mile with a slight uphill that challenges the athletes on one side of the track and a slight downhill to use to their advantage on the other. There are four races to choose from of which athletes can compete in up to two races. They are 500m, 1K, 5K and 10K. The Augusta Stars have athletes who compete on both ends (500m and 1K/5K and 10K) as well as intermediate (1K and 5K) based on their capabilities. The results of these races are as follows:
For the 500M/1K group: Naomi Hicks, fourth in both; Aalyiah Petry, gold and fourth; Kamaryah Wright – two bronze; and Victoria Valotton, two sillver.
For the 1K/5K group: Justin Lawton, gold and silver; and Izza Giboney, fourth and bronze.
For the 5K/10K group: Antonio Rodriguez, two gold; Chris Powell, silver and bronze; Cooper Claus, two gold; Jeffrey Keating, bronze and silver; Jon Lambert, two bronze; Corey Hudson, fourth and bronze; and J Eric Welch, bronze and fourth; and Joshua Ekechukwu, fourth and ilver.
Jon Lambert and Corey Hudson competed in the intermediate group last year. They asked to compete in the 10K with their 3-wheeled bikes. It was a challenge, but both of them excelled and conquered the challenge, according to information from the Augusta Stars.
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