Nineteen student-athletes from all three Cazenovia Central School District schools last week joined nearly 300 student-athletes from 11 schools in Madison and Oneida counties to compete in the annual Madison-Oneida BOCES Special Olympics Autumn Games at Canastota High School.
Participants from Camden, Canastota, Cazenovia, Chittenango, Hamilton, Madison, Morrisville-Eaton, Oneida, Stockbridge Valley, Vernon-Verona-Sherrill and Madison-Oneida BOCES competed in a variety of track and field events. These included: 50-meter, 100-meter, 200-meter and 400-meter runs, shot put, running and standing long jump and a softball throw. The event also includes Adaptive Games for athletes not able to compete in traditional events.
Cazenovia student athletes who participated were: River Barriger Sage Byrnes, Caleb Camp, Luke Clonan, Ian Decker, Gary Dickerson, Harry Dydo, Adolfo Gomez Pu, Kim Hopkins, Anna Linck, Sophia Lupinski, Ryan Lyrek, Ava Marshall, Alex Mussision, Hazel Shaw, Zachary Streeter, Ryan Tallman, and Connor Zampetti.
Each of the participants was paired up with a high school senior “athlete assistant” for the day. These included: Paul McLaughlin, Ryan Haley, Liam Johnson, Sawyer Hunt, Zach Maxwell, Rachel Devine, Colby Lucas, Jess Macheda, Morgan Mapstone, Kevin Frega, Paige Nardella, Cole Wilson, Adam Race, Jake Shaffner, Noah Race, Sophie Goris, Shawn Cunningham, Brendan Whalen, Frank Marconi, Noah Nash and T.J. Connellan.
“This is my favorite day of the year,” said Sean Condon, Burton Street PE teacher and Cazenovia team coordinator. “To see the smiles on everyone’s faces, to see all the kids having fun is worth all the time that goes into it. I think it’s a learning experience for everyone involved.”
This was the third consecutive year in which Cazenovia district student-athletes participated in the M-O BOCES Special Olympics — and the largest team to date. In 2013, Cazenovia had seven student-athletes from Burton Street Elementary School. In 2014, participation was opened to student-athletes in the middle and high schools, and the team swelled to 15. This year, there were 19 student-athletes ages of ages eight and older.
The event began with all the teams — joined by more than 100 volunteers who helped run events and assisted athletes in getting to their events on time — marching into the Canastota track complex by school delegation in the traditional Parade of Athletes and Opening Ceremonies. The parade was led by the Canastota Marching Band, and the Canastota Select Choir sang the National Anthem.
Canastota Superintendent June Clarke and MOBOCES Special Programs Coordinator Laurie Ann Ross, a longtime Special Olympics organizer, offered welcome remarks.
“On this extraordinary day, we come together as a family and as a community to witness how the spirit, drive and commitment of our athletes will enrich all of our lives in the days, weeks and months ahead,” Ross said.
The athletes then all recited the Special Olympics oath — “Let me win, but if I cannot win let me be brave in the attempt” — and the games began.
Each of the participating athletes competed in two events.
Athlete Ava Marshall, who participated in the standing long jump and the softball throw, said she was having fun.
“This is awesome; Let’s do this every day!” said Marshall’s “senior buddy” for the day, Jess Macheda.
“They look good and the excitement level is just up to here,” said Cazenovia Superintendent Matt Reilly, holding his hand to his forehead. “And it’s not just the athletes but back to the schools with the teachers and the students … it’s a district-wide event.”
Cazenovia CSD Special Education Director Terry Ward said this was his best day of the entire school year. “This is just awesome to see … And it’s not just the special needs kids, but also their buddies,” he said. “I just think it’s great.”
For more information and photos, visit the Madison-Oneida BOCES website at moboces.org. Photos of the Cazenovia athletes and volunteers can also be found on the Cazenovia Republican Facebook page at Facebook.com/cazrepublican.
