Blood, sweat and seizures weren’t enough to stop The Dalles Special Olympics athletes from crossing the finish line. At the Special Olympics Oregon Regional Athletics Competition at Clackamas High School on July 30, eight athletes from The Dalles competed in track and field events such as running, jumping and throwing. The competition is for athletes with cognitive disabilities.
The Dalles track and field team is led by Coach Raven Rutherford who also coaches swimming and basketball teams for the Special Olympics Oregon program.
“I’ve been working with Special Olympics for a while now. As an athlete myself, working with these young athletes really keeps me on my toes,” Rutherford said.
Plenty of athletes surpassed expectations, but Rutherford described Alyssa Masse’s 200-meter dash as the highlight of the competition.
Masse started out strong and approached the finish line ahead of the rest of the pack. According to Rutherford, Masse fell to her hands and knees just 50 feet from the finish line. She experienced a seizure on the track and medical officials were alerted.
However, before they could attend to her, Masse stood up, shook it off and crossed the finish line, mid-seizure. Immediately after reaching the tent, Masse asked if she had won. Rutherford told her she was the biggest winner of them all simply by finishing the race.
“That’s Alyssa Masse in a nutshell,” Rutherford said. “She is an amazing person who refuses to let a disability affect her life.”
The team trains once a week every Saturday at the Wahtonka High School track, for six or seven Saturdays.
During this time, the group works on events such as the javelin throw, 3,000-, 800-, 200- and 100-meter races, as well as the wheelchair slalom, where participants are judged on time, precision and technical ability.
As the swimming and basketball programs begin for the Special Olympics, Rutherford will rejoin the team for the basketball portion of competition.
Just like for track and field, the squad will practice once a week until the regional competition against other teams throughout Oregon.
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