Post athletes return to form

Antonio Warren leads Team Fort Lewis with two gold medals

Matt Smith

Northwest Guardian

Coming into the 2008 Special Olympics Washington Summer Games, the Fort Lewis team looked poised to make its mark after a solid performance at the Southwest Region tournament. The seven-man squad didn’t disappoint.

The four-man track and field team earned eight medals, including five golds, a silver and two bronze medals, and the three swimmers combined for two golds and a bronze.

“I was very excited and proud of the kids,” said first-year head coach Junior Smith. “They tried hard.”

After not fielding a team in 2007, Team Fort Lewis made a triumphant return to action spearheaded by Antonio Warren.

Warren was the sole Fort Lewis athlete to double up in gold medals, taking top honors in the 25-meter wheelchair race and in the 30-meter saloma wheelchair race.

Though laying claim to a gold medal in the softball throw, it was Tyler Thornton’s silver medal finish in the 100-meter walk that most impressed Smith.

“Tyler did exceptionally well,” Smith said. “He was very consistent. He had a hard time with the 100-meter walk, but I was impressed he won the silver.”

Smith said he was also happy with Angelo Raffaele, who took gold in the 200-meter walk and bronze in the shot put.

“Angelo really impressed me because he had never won a gold before, he had only won silvers,” Smith said. “He was competing with guys 16-21 years old. He had a lot of determination.”

Daniel Morales also had a nice showing at the Games, winning gold in the 100-meter walk and bronze in the tennis ball throw.

Though finding some success in the pool, the Fort Lewis swim team didn’t quite meet the expectations Smith had after such an outstanding performance at the Southwest Region tournament where each swimmer won three gold medals.

“They dominated at Kelso,” Smith said, “but the competition was very difficult last weekend.”

Aaron Gold was the only swimmer to earn two medals, nabbing a gold in the 25-meter flotation race and a bronze in the 25-meter freestyle.

Joshua Crittenden earned the only other swim medal for Fort Lewis — a gold in the 15-meter water walk. Devin Everly just missed a bronze in the 25-meter backstroke, finishing in fourth place.

Despite not having its best performance in the pool, Smith said he was impressed with his team’s effort.

“Overall, the team did great,” he said. “They performed real hard and they never gave up. I’m really proud of them.”

A call for softball players

Coach Junior Smith is in the process of putting together a softball team that is to feature five special needs children and five non-special needs children.

There are currently three special needs and two non-special needs players signed up.

The team will compete against other squads around the area, which will then compete in a tournament in Olympia in August.

Practice is set to begin June 16 and will run every Tuesday and Thursday from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. on the baseball field by the Youth Sports Complex.

Smith is also looking for volunteer coaches to help with the special needs players.

Anyone interested in playing or coaching can contact Smith at 967-2405 or on his cell phone at (360) 556-9339.