2 MPCSD students qualify for Special Olympic State Games

Mt. Pleasant students who competed in the Southeast Iowa Special Olympic Games 'started small, and ended big,” with two students headed to state and another competing strongly on Saturday, April 13, at Mapleleaf Athletic Complex.

Jason Rhum, 15, and Ashton Jewett, 13, competed in the 400-and 100-meter dash, and Marcus McAllister, 15, competed in the 400 meter dash and standing long jump on Saturday. Rhum and Ashton qualified for Special Olympic State Games.

'I have tears of joy,” said Debbie Jewett, Ashton Jewett's mother. 'His first ever Special Olympics. It's exciting to see him compete and be part of something where there's no limit. A day full of beautiful people.

'I've never been to a Special Olympics before,” Debbie continued. 'We're very proud of our Ashton.”

The three students and their coaches made up the first Mt. Pleasant Community School District (MPCSD) team to compete at Southeast Iowa Special Olympics in recent memory, said Amanda Jarvis, instructional strategist at Mt. Pleasant Middle School. At least a dozen other teams were represented on Saturday, competing in softball, shot put, standing long jump, running long jump and various distance races.

'Mt. Pleasant has needed this for a while. I'm impressed with how far (Marcus) has come,” said Eva McAllister, Marcus McAllister's mother.

Coaches with the MPCSD team were Christian Henriksen, Tina Barton, Suzanne Staats and Sierra Wyse. To prepare the students to compete on Saturday, Jarvis said she and the coaches brought them out to Mapleleaf Athletic Complex to practice and train. Each athlete was able to sign up to compete in two events for Special Olympics.

'It's important to my coaches and I that these kids had something more than just coming to school,” Jarvis said. 'This is set up for them. It's their time to shine.”

Jarvis said she is unsure if they will need to fundraise to help send the Special Olympic State Game qualifiers to state, but she wants to make sure families of the students are able to attend without worrying about the expense.

'It's exciting, but nerve-racking,” Jarvis said. 'I want to make sure parents will get to go see their kids compete.”

Athletes from other teams across southeast Iowa also celebrated successes on Saturday.

Danville High School also had their first team at Special Olympics.

Nicholas Ertz, from Danville, ran the 100 meter dash in his first year of competing.

Christine Ertz, Nicholas Ertz's mother, said it was a great opportunity for Nicholas, who also runs track and field and cross-country at Danville.

'This is awesome. It's a great event for a lot of people, and there's a lot of smiles,” Christine said.

Amanda Ward, who teaches in the Danville School District, said she wanted to bring students to compete at the Southeast Iowa Games on Saturday for the chance to make friendships, receive encouragement from others and be a part of a team.

'I'm very grateful for this opportunity,” Ward said.

Jaime Hallgren, 16, with the Ottumwa Bulldogs, participated in the softball throw and 100 meter dash. While she was 'kind of nervous,” Hallgren said the nerves help her run faster.

Trudy Hallgren, Jaime Hallgren's mother, said that Jaime has been competing in Special Olympics since she was eight-years-old. While Jaime likes to make it to state competitions, the friendships she has made through competing are what keeps her coming back to Special Olympics, Trudy said.

Betty Lowry, from Oskaloosa, was celebrating her blue ribbon for the javelin throw. Lowry said she 'enjoys having fun” at Special Olympics and cheering on her teammates, which she did with enthusiasm from the sidelines.

Skyler Benge, of Fort Madison, also walked away with a blue ribbon on Saturday. He said he enjoys doing 'lots of things” at Special Olympics, especially winning awards and making it to state. He has been competing at Special Olympics for 10 to 15 years.

'I think state will probably be a little difficult for me and fun,” Benge said. 'I figure it will not be easy, but (it will be) cool.”