Special Olympians compete in soccer, bowling events

Athletes from Clark County had success in a pair of recent competitions.

Two teams from Clark County won gold medals at a Special Olympics soccer tournament on Nov. 6 in Corvallis, Ore.

The Bulldogs and the Cougars were among 26 unified Special Olympics teams at the Oregon Unified Soccer Tournament at Corvallis High School. Unified teams consist of athletes with intellectual disabilities and athletes without intellectual disabilities.

Each teams also won the sportsmanship honor for its division.

Players for the Bulldogs were Daniel Cohen, Mike Cook, Nathan Ellis, Emily Hamilton, Russ Jones, Robert Schmitz, Sean Starr and Ivan Soltero. The team was coached by Jayne King.

The Cougars players were Alex Ables, David Ables, Santos Lopez, Mellisa Mattsen, Jason Sorenson, Zach Thompson, Zane Thompson, Ally Warner and Fiona Wimber. Coaches were Elizabeth Francis and Jon Wimber.

On Oct. 30 at Big Al’s in Vancouver, hundreds of bowlers from around western Washington competed at the Southern Washington Regionals. Athletes and Unified Partners from Clark County, Grays Harbor, Lewis County and Longview-Kelso participated.

For Clark County, the head coach was Rick Cook. Also coaching were Sylvia Downey, Elizabeth Francis, Jason Gallagher, and Jon Wimber.

Athletes and Unified Partners earning first place were Michael Abe, Nathan Berdinka, Jacob Blunt, Jonathan Boyles, Karen Carrico, Heather Charles, Tina Colantuono, Chelsey Comeau, Aaron Cook, Jerrod Crowson, Mariah Davis, Joseph Dawson, Dennis Dole, Jr., Jason Downey, Kenda Eaton, Christian Entrikin, Calvin Ertler, William Ferguson, Matt Folkerts, Craig Francis, Kristopher Gatlin, Ron Gebbie, Tim Hammrich, Ralph Heiser, Abby Hoofnagle, Kelly Jeans, Becky Johnson, Larry Joslin, Michael Krecklow, Alyssa Kwak, Sarah Lasco, Kyle Mabry, Melissa Mattsen, Marissa McCollum, Nathan McKee, Ashley Medlock, Lauren Milam, Larry Monroe, Tina Murphy, Katie Murray, Levi Neal, Aaron Nile, Tom Pecka, Janet Petrovski, Sara Polendey, Andy Poukkula, Chris Rector, Kyle Reinhart, June Reneau, Deanna Sanders, Katharine Sanders, Robert Schmitz, Angelina Schubothe, Hayden Scott, Donnie Sellers, Tommy Shannon, Scott Shivvers, Lynnadelle Schoeneberg, Luke Smith, Everett Smith, Audrey Smith, Samantha Spencer, Sean Starr, Zach Thompson, Hannah Wampach, Josh Webber, and Rachel Williams.

Bowlers for Clark County earning second place were: Rachel Akins, David Balas, Danny Baragary, Chelsey Baxter, Fred Berthhold, Adam Calkin, Thomas Chidwick, Anthony Coehlo, Rosa Coehlo, Maria Collazo, Chelise Conklin, Jason Cook, Holly Cook, Tim Cook, Michael Cook, William Cuff, Krista Downey, Matthew Eggers, Bridgette Eggers, Nathan Ellis, Jordan Fallon, Talon Gebordo, Bailey Hamilton, Emily Hamilton, Mallory Hamilton, Jeremy Huck, Dennis Huck, Barbara Kennedy, Hayley Kordonowy, Susan Kunkel, Michael Lamb, Gerald Lamb, Maura Mahle, Melody Malik, Mandy Malik, Carrie Manning, Jennifer Moscou, Carol Read, Cory Robak, Jennifer Rodriguez, Rebekah Skufca, Ivan Soltero, Jason Sorenson, Eric Stage, Lori Steed, Andrew Stekhuizen, Abbigail Storm, Michael Vanoni, Greg Werner, Fiona Wimber, CJ Zemp, and Bryanna Zychowicz.

Third-place bowlers were: Alex Ables, Sharisse Aichele, Sarah Anderson, Vanessa Anderson, Matt Baker, Nicole Banks, Jason Baumgartner, JB Becker, Robert Benson, Kevynn Bogart, Katie Bordan, Kevin Broncorsi, Erin Casey, Jonathan Chidester, David Cralley, Shawn Dieter, Sean Dinsmore, Heather Doenecke, Pam Fich, Teresa Haliski, Anjuli Heath, Kay Heilbronner, Glenda Huhtala, Matt Jenkins, Michelle Kauk, Doug McPherson, Mavis Milner, Heidi Moss, John Phillips, Bill Sheadel, Michael Suire, Jason Tevlin, Michael Torres, Tiffany Torres, Alex Trimble, Sara Trimble, Jason Turner, Ally Warner and Shaun Wood.

Earning fourth place were bowlers: Dirk Alf, Lisa Benson, James Byers, Cathy Chidester, Chad Cline, Anna Coglan, Carl Crosiar, Casey Ellison, Shawn Hassig, Jeff Hogland, Dusty Lang, Nathaniel Little, Santos Lopez, Greg Martinez, Sam McIntyre, Chad McNillan, David Nelson, Charles Rymer, Mark Samples and Mark Trenda.

Patrick Blue earned fifth place.