County Powerlifters Bring Home the Gold at State Special Olympics Competition

Special Olympics of Montgomery County's powerlifting team muscled its way to the medal stand Saturday, during the 2011 Special Olympics Maryland State Fall Festival at Mount St. Mary's University in Emmitsburg, Md.

Six of the 10 athletes earned gold medals for overall competition, with several powerlifters earning individual medals for bench press and dead lift, said the team's coach Jim Downs.

Downs and a fellow powerlifter Linda Jo Belsito helped the team end the Special Olympics powerlifting season on a high note. Here are the unofficial results from Saturday's competition (in alphabetical order):

Tyler Brown - Overall Fifth Place
Ben Collins - Overall Gold
John Edwards - Overall Gold
Laura Evans - Overall Gold
Kyle Hutto - Overall Fifth Place 
Lizabeth Kanfee - Overall Bronze
Eli Lewis - Overall Fifth place 
Matthew McMeekin - Overall Gold
Thomas Morere - Overall Gold
Lori Plaxen - Overall Gold