Windham Special Olympians earn gold medal in Orono

Windham's Special Olympics team competed
in the Maine Special Olympics on June 11
at the University of Maine at Orono. Back,
from left, are AJ Mains, Coach Wyatt LeBlanc,
Austin Rice, Coach Amanda Pope, Coach Anne
Blake, Ryleigh Geary, Coach Margaret Dionne,
and Cameron Malone. Front, from left, are Dani 
Iaconeta, and Mary Jean. SUBMITTED PHOTO   

By Ed Pierce

A team from Windham turned in an exceptional performance during the Maine Special Olympics competition in Orono on June 11 and brought home a gold medal in the 4x100-meter relay race.

Windham athletes competed at the University of Maine in Orono in the running long jump, the softball throw and several running events during the competition, which drew participating Special Olympics athletes from throughout Maine.

Special Olympics is a global organization that serves athletes with intellectual disabilities working with hundreds of thousands of volunteers and coaches each year. Since the establishment of Special Olympics in 1968, the number of people with and without intellectual disabilities who are involved with the organization has been growing, but the unmet need to reach more people with intellectual disabilities is ongoing.

The Maine Special Olympics organization provides year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. These activities provide the athletes with continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy, and to participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship.

This year’s Special Olympics team from Windham included AJ Mains, Dani Iaconeta, Austin Rice, Cameron Malone, Ryleigh Geary, and Mary Jean and was coached by Anne Blake, a physical therapist from RSU 14. Assisting Blake were coaches Margaret Dionne, Amanda Pope, and Wyatt LeBlanc.

Blake said that Windham’s team was made up of athletes from Special Olympians from Windham High School and Windham Middle School and qualified for the state-level competition after turning in an outstanding performance at the Cumberland County Special Olympics Regional Meet on May 6 at Bonny Eagle High School. 

According to Blake, qualifying for and then competing in the state meet was memorable for all members of the Windham team.

“It was truly amazing to see all of the athletes there participating once again,” Blake said. “There has not been a state-level competition for several years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

She said the most challenging aspect for the team prior to the Maine Special Olympics was gathering and submitting all the necessary paperwork for the Windham athletes.

“Because this is a national organization, they are very stringent and need to ensure that the athletes have intellectual and other disabilities and meet the qualifying rationale to be able to compete,” Blake said.

At the Cumberland County Special Olympic Regionals in May, Windham fielded a team that included students in elementary school, middle school and high school, but for the state competition they could only take middle school and high school students.

Blake said that Windham has had a Special Olympics team for the past decade, but because of COVID-19 concerns and restrictions, the Maine Special Olympics was canceled in both 2020 and 2021.

This year though was a much different story and Windham showcased its talent with the 4x100-meter relay team dashing to first place among other state competitors.

“All athletes did a superb job,” Blake said. “The team would like to thank the Windham Boosters Club for their support.”

To close out its trip to Orono, the Windham team and coaches ended the day with a well-deserved and fun-filled team dinner at the 99 Restaurant. <