Clarion County Special Olympics Basketball Team Has A Great Day At Western Sectionals

on 9 May, 2024 at 13:36

All photos courtesy of Prince Brooks 32 1/2productions – The Clarion County Special Olympics team members proudly display their medals: (Back – left to right) Head Coaches Tanya Brooks and Jimmy Smathers; Brandon Barclay, Bill Stout, Brynn Beary, Tyler Smith, Jordan Champion, Jordan Myers; Front – left to right) Ezra Brooks, Jared Wolbert, Coach Prince Brooks and Kelsey Gruver.

The Clarion County Special Olympics Basketball Team had a great showing at the 2024 Western Team Sectional at Carnegie Mellon University on Saturday, April 20th. Carnegie Mellon hosts the event annually.

**Skills Competitors (Back – left to right) Shirley Haggerty, Wesley Sweet, Wade Huwar, Dave Mackinlay. (Front- left to right) Adeline Gunter, Jeffrey Moll, Kayla Reisinger.**

Sixteen athletes competed for Clarion County, nine on the 5 on 5 Team and seven on the Skills Team. The 5 on Five Team took the Gold Medal in Division 6, with the Skills Team winning four medals, Gold, two Bronze and one Silver.

**Wesley Sweet with Coach Emily Brent, with Allie Brent in the background.**

This year’s Clarion County Team included athletes from Clarion, New Bethlehem, Knox and Parker.

All qualifying athletes will move on to the Summer Fest State Games at Penn State, which will be held Thursday, June 6th – Saturday, June 8th. The Clarion Special Olympics Basketball Team and a few of their skills athletes will be competing at State Games.

Head Coach and Fundraising Coordinator, Tanya Brooks-Walker is very happy for the team’s performance. She shared, “The coaches are all proud of the athletes hard work and determination in practice and their constant commitment to team work and sportsmanship!

“Last year we received a call at the 11th hour that the State Games were cancelled due to the smoke from the Canadian wild fires, so we are excited for our athletes to have the opportunity again this year to compete at the state level!”

Clarion County Special Olympics/Team Clarion is always in need of volunteers. Brooks-Walker said, “We need coaches + volunteers more than anything else because the program is currently running on 5-7 consistent volunteers.”

If you would like to volunteer or have any questions about Clarion County Special Olympics/Team Clarion, contact Amy Maes – Manager at: amymmays@gmail.com

(Way to go, Team Clarion, have a great time at states!!!! Thanks to Prince Brooks 32 1/2 Productions for the photos!!)