BY BRITTANY CHALMERS
Staff Writers
Though the weather was extremely cold, senior and Special Olympics member Harrison Solenday said that his first time attending the Winter Games was exactly as fun as he expected.
The games consisted of cross-country skiing and skating. This year, skiing took place at Seven Springs instead of Hidden Valley like in the past, and skating took place at Johnstown.
More than 50 students of all grades from Baldwin attended the games in Seven Springs over the course of two days and helped run them. Their responsibilities included being timekeepers, scorekeepers, and escorting athletes.
“Without the students, we wouldn’t be able to run the event,” sponsor Eric Jankoski said.
Since each student only attended one day, their jobs were evenly split and handled. The students who attended on Monday were there for the athletes’ practice runs, and the students who attended on Tuesday were present for the final events.
“It was a good way to split it up because everyone got to have the same fun experience,” Solenday said.
Baldwin has participated in these games for more than 10 years, before current sponsors Jankoski and Tim Laughlin were involved. However, there have been changes in recent years.
In past years, Baldwin was only in charge of the intermediate ski slope and not involved with the entry, novice, or advanced levels. However, this year they were exposed to all levels.
“This year we branched out, which was cool because we could see the entire event,” Laughlin said.
Baldwin was one of the only participating high schools that had such a big responsibility, Jankoski said.
Their support was so greatly appreciated that the students have already been asked by the state to expand their role in future years’ games.
“It went wonderfully thanks to the students’ support and enthusiasm,” Laughlin said.
Students said that they enjoyed being able to watch the athletes do what they love and what they spent so long training for.
Jankoski, Laughlin, and teacher Josh Stahl “are doing our best to help foster the caring, the love, and the interest among the students. I’m really proud of everyone and I can’t stress it enough,” Laughlin said.
The students deserve a lot of credit for their success in running such a big event, and they are looking forward to returning in future years, Laughlin said.
Categories: Sports
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