Sports : Area Special Olympians to compete Saturday in Coralville

On Saturday morning, seven athletes from the Vinton Shellsburg United Special Olympics team will compete in regional competition in Coralville. Team members Zach Kramer, Mikey Malmgren, Sage Holmes, Leyton Aldrich, Nikole Bascom, Ryan Lane and Nick Eckhardt will take part in the Basketball Skills events held at the Northwest Junior High School.

The athletes will be scored in timed individual events including ball handling skills, passing accuracy, and shooting accuracy from various spots on the basketball court. Nearly 100 athletes will compete, with first place finishers moving on to the Special Olympics Mid Winter Tournament to be held at the University of Iowa Fieldhouse on March 15th.

Registration is at 8:15 a.m., with opening ceremonies starting at 8:30. VSU’s Sage Holmes has been chosen to be flag bearer for the opening ceremonies to start the competition.

VSU Special Olympics welcomes students from any Benton county school between the ages of 8 and 21 that has an Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) to join the team. Spring Athletics trials will be held on Thursday, March 13. For more information, contact Brian Larkin at 319-521-2640 or by email: bsarjk1@gmail.com.