Team Connecticut Excels at Special Olympics USA Games in Seattle

Special Olympics Connecticut recently welcomed home members of Team Connecticut who returned from an amazing week at Special Olympics USA Games in Seattle, Washington. Team members included 46 delegates, coaches, athletes and Unified teammates who competed in Golf, Tennis, Bowling, Athletics (Track & Field), Swimming, Basketball and Video Gaming at the USA Games.

The Special Olympics USA Games brought together more than 4,000 Special Olympics athletes and coaches from all 50 states and the District of Columbia to Seattle to compete before tens of thousands of spectators. The USA Games showcased the limitless talents of people with intellectual disabilities while promoting the barrier-breaking power of sport to promote inclusion and acceptance.

Team Connecticut truly excelled. All the Swimmers and Track & Field athletes achieved personal bests at all their events. Bowler Shayne Curtiss bowled 43 pins over his average and came home with three gold medals and Golfers Jessica Foberg and Joyce Grodovich dropped 12 strokes off their game to come in 2nd place! Brothers Christian and Nathan Aponte participated in the first-ever Special Olympics Video Gaming tournament made possible by Microsoft.

Team Connecticut Results

ATHLETICS (TRACK & FIELD)

Coach - Cara Manforte (of Wolcott)

500M Final: Justin Mazza (of Windsor Locks), 6th place (00:24:30.97)

100M Final: Joshua Oakley (of Naugatuck), 4th place (00:00:17.11)

100M Final: Sean Murphy (of New Haven), 1st place (00:00:14.43) – GOLD MEDAL

100M Final: Thomas O’Neill (of Madison), 6th place (00:00:15.29)

3000M Final: Justin Mazza (of Windsor Locks), 2nd place (00:13:29.52) – SILVER MEDAL

200M Final: Sean Murphy (of New Haven), 8th place (00:00:29.28)

Men’s Shot Put 4.0 Kg/8.8 pounds: Thomas O’Neill (of Madison), 3rd place (best score - 10.04) – BRONZE MEDAL

4x100M Final: Justin Mazza, Joshua Oakley, Sean Murphy and Thomas O’Neill (00:01:02.87), 4th place

Mini Javelin Final: Joshua Oakley (of Naugatuck), 4th place (best score - 10.97)

Shot Put: Joshua Oakley (of Naugatuck), 1st place – GOLD MEDAL

BASKETBALL

Coaches - Shellie Ciccarelli and Chris Staley

Unified Sports® Team Connecticut Basketball Team from Norwich Free Academy (Norwich), 2nd place – SILVER MEDAL

Team Members – Nicholas Allard, Mark Bastein, Daniel Benjamin, Cameron Duda, James Franck, Patrick Jones, Elijah Lamarre, Alex Lherisson, Giovanni Moran and Jared Small.

BOWLING

Coach - Lisa Thomasco (of Mystic)

Singles Finals: Shayne Curtiss (of Groton), 1st place (627) – GOLD MEDAL

Singles Finals: Abby Snyder (of Dayville), 2nd place (302) – SILVER MEDAL

Unified Team Finals: Shayne Curtiss, Abby Snyder, Richard Kent and Celine Huff, 1st place (1796) – GOLD MEDAL

Unified Doubles: Celine Huff (of Scotland) and Abby Snyder (of Dayville), 4th place (689)

Unified Doubles: Shayne Curtiss (of Groton) and Richard Kent (of Gales Ferry), 1st place (1127) – GOLD MEDAL

GOLF

Coach - Kevin Smith (of West Hartford)

Level 2 Final Round Men’s Unified: Dale Akerley (of Bristol) and Anthony Thibeault (of Southington), 4th place (final score:152)

Level 2 Final Round Women’s Unified: Jessica Foberg (of Wethersfield) and Joyce Grodovich (of Rocky Hill), 2nd place (final score: 216) – SILVER MEDAL

SWIMMING

Coach - Heather Minervini (of Wolcott)

50M Butterfly Final: Lia Muchin (of West Hartford), 2nd place (00:00:55.92) – SILVER MEDAL

100M Backstroke Direct Final: Alec Sachs (of New Haven), 4th place (00:02:25.75)

High Performance 100M Individual Medley Direct Final: Stephen Emblidge (of Waterford), 6th place (personal best) (00:01:23.40)

100M Freestyle Direct Final: Alec Sachs (of New Haven), 3rd place (00:01:55.24) – BRONZE MEDAL

100M Freestyle Direct Final: Stephen Emblidge (of Waterford), 6th place (00:01:13.22)

50M Freestyle Male Direct Final: Karl Arezzini (of Greenwich), 6th place (00:01:00.25)

50M Freestyle Female Direct Final: Lia Muchin (of West Hartford), 3rd place (00:00:51.78) – BRONZE MEDAL

50M Backstroke Direct Final: Karl Arezzini (of Greenwich), 6th place (00:01:01.82)

TENNIS

Coach - Emily Malan (of Coventry)

Singles Tournament: Brett Glaser (of Madison), 1st place – GOLD MEDAL

Singles Tournament: Lonnie Braxton (of New London), 3rd place – BRONZE MEDAL

Unified Doubles: Lonnie Braxton (of New London) and Nick Leitkowski (of Colchester), 1st place – GOLD MEDAL; Brett Glaser (of Madison) and Paul Tetreault (of Newington), 2nd place – SILVER MEDAL

VIDEO GAMING

Coach – Matthew Sweet (of Bridgeport)

Christian and Nathan Aponte (brothers, of Bridgeport), 2nd place – SILVER MEDAL

Dream Ride and the Hometown Foundation were Title Sponsors of Team Connecticut. Michael Bozzuto, of Bozzuto’s Inc., the Hometown Foundation and Dream Ride was Chairman of the team and WWE’s Stephanie McMahon, Honorary Chair.

Team Sponsors and Honorary Coaches include the Arrix Family, Mike and Jennifer Elmore, The Raza Family, The Truwit Family and Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of New York, Inc. & the Honickman Family. In-Kind Contributors include Columbia, Connecticut Sport & Fitness, Thule and Triple Stitch. Athlete Sponsors are ACI Dynamics, Adams Hometown Market, Dean Cusano, Walter and Carol Davison, Enterprise, Enterprise Foundation, Franco American War Veterans Post 26, Hudson Valley Motorcycles, The Jaguar Club of Southern New England, Motorcars Incorporated, Turnpike Motors, Ulbrich Stainless Steels and Specialty Metals, Inc. and Unilever. Donors are Coinstar, Charles and Helen Reichert, Joseph Cirillo Foundation, Knights of Columbus State Council and Rob and Lynn Stark. Michael Bozzuto is Chairman of the Team and Stephanie McMahon, Honorary Chair. The Special Olympics USA Games are held every four years in different locations around the country.

About Special Olympics Connecticut

Special Olympics Connecticut provides year-round sports training and competitions for over 12,000 athletes of all ages with intellectual disabilities and Unified Sports® partners - their teammates without disabilities. Through the joy of sport, the Special Olympics movement transforms lives and communities throughout the state and in 172 countries around the world by promoting good health and fitness and inspiring inclusion and respect for all people, on and off the playing field. (www.soct.org)

Partner Sponsors: Adams Hometown Markets/IGA Hometown Supermarkets, Dream Ride, ESPN, Eversource Energy, The Golisano Foundation, Law Enforcement Torch Run, NBC Connecticut, TD Bank, United Technologies and WWE.

Year-Round Suppliers: Adams Hometown Markets/IGA Hometown Supermarkets, Campus Customs, The Coca-Cola Company, Connecticut Portable Storage/PODS, Crystal Rock Water and Coffee Company, Dunkin’ Donuts, Guida’s Milk and Ice Cream, Lamar Outdoor Advertising, Marcus Communications, State of Connecticut Judicial Branch Community Service and WORX.