Special Olympics Meet Held at Warren Central

VICKSBURG, Miss. (VDN) — A regional Special Olympics competition was held Tuesday at Warren Central High School.

Teams from across the region participated in the event, which featured four main track and field activities.

“Today we are hosting the Special Olympics here at the Warren Central stadium,” said Lucy Young, an organizer of the event. “We are doing track and field today. Included in that are a softball throw, mini javelin and bocce ball. The athletes will be performing at four different stations.”

The fourth station included 50- and 100-meter runs.

The enthusiastic athletes look forward to the event all year. One parent said her daughter barely slept the night before due to the excitement.

“We’ve got great assistance here today from the Elks Club, both Kiwanis Clubs, Porter’s Chapel Key Club, Warren Central Key Club and AmeriCorps,” Young said.

Competitors came from both Warren and Yazoo counties.

“We take in both high schools here in Vicksburg, both junior highs, Micah’s Mission, Jacob’s Ladder, MidWest Industries and the Yazoo Health Organization,” she added.

Young has been involved with Special Olympics in Warren County since the early 1980s.

“It makes you feel good.”

Deborah Holt, with the Special Olympics Mississippi state office, also attended the event.

“I’m here to represent the state office today and show this area — Area 10 — that we support them wholly,” Holt said. “Just to be enthusiastic and support them today.”

Holt works primarily with schools in the Unified Champion Schools program, which encourages school participation in Special Olympics.

“We unify the athletes and the school with partners from our general education students,” she said. “It works out well so everybody gets to compete and play.”

“I get misty every time athletes get their medals,” Holt said. “At bowling in January in Southaven, there was an athlete in a wheelchair. When he got his medal, he literally started crying. I looked around, and everybody there was weeping.

A misty-eyed Holt added, “It makes you feel good.”

Here are some more photos from today’s competition: