Sports : Special Olympics Regional Track and Field competition this Saturday

The Vinton Shellsburg United Special Olympics team will join nearly 300 area athletes this Saturday at Clark Field on the Coe College campus for the East Central Iowa Regional Games. First place finishers will advance to the State Competition in May held at Iowa State.

You may have noticed the team name has changed this year, adding the word "United". "Our team has expanded to include athletes from both Benton Community and CPU school districts, so we changed the name to welcome them to the team", Head Coach Tammy Zimmerman said. Zimmerman is also the Event Director for Saturday's games.

It takes many volunteers to put on an event this size. Volunteers come from all directions to help the athletes, many from the Vinton area. For the past few years, V-S Girl's Track Head Coach Heather Kalous and her squad have helped out. Viking mascot Victor E Viking will make an appearance during the opening ceremonies. Former V-S cheer coach Krystal Fitzpatrick will bring her Kirkwood cheerleaders to help fire up the crowd. Area DJ Mike Hepker will provide dance music in the Olympic Village, and a team of Americorps members will be on hand to help make sure the athletes get to their events on time. Volunteers from Rockwell, Geico, and many other businesses will help keep the events moving, and the Vinton Knights of Columbus Council will be in charge of traffic control and parking to keep everyone safe.

"I think we have everything under control except the weather", East Central Iowa Regional Director Theresa Werner laughed. The Regional Games get underway Saturday with opening ceremonies at 9 o'clock and will run until approximately 4:30, rain or shine.