New Jersey’s Special Olympics annual Track and Field Area 10 event was held at Manville High School on May 11, where the Bridgewater-Raritan High School Special Olympics Track and Field Team excelled in the 50 m race, 100 m race, 4 x 100 m relay and a tennis ball throw.
Organized by a board of volunteer directors, this event is part of an international organization known as Special Olympics, which encourages inclusion for students of all ages with special needs through Olympic sports. At the Manville event, some of the competitive events included javelin, sprints and relays.
The 26 Bridgewater-Raritan students competing were paired with over 30 volunteers who signed up to spend their Saturday at the event, where they were able to assist their partnered competitors in their events throughout the day.
The students who competed in the events include Pranav Bhagirath, Daniel Oldman, Sarah Rashid, Joseph DiGiovanni, Elton John Ramirez, Ian Hanley, Spencer Weidenfeld, Julia Gust, Aileen Wei, Andrew Gallup, Matthew Borell, Sathvika Kopparapu, Kyle Cosenza, Ayaan Qureshi, Ishaan Singh, Nicholas Esposito, Emily Radha, Jonathan Zerzghi, Logan Ernst, Ashley Fetchina, Carmela Loschiavo, Anurag Trivedi, Arjun Yalamanchili and Luke Durda.
Many schools in the district gathered at the high school to compete in these events, including the high school, Eisenhower Intermediate School and the middle school.
Students who competed trained during their PE Partners classes. PE Partners is a program open to students in grades 11 and 12 at the high school where selected individuals from an application are selected to attend their gym classes with students who have disabilities, where they play games and go on field trips.
Many of the athletes succeeded in the events with gold and silver medals, representing Bridgewater-Raritan High School with pride at the competition and persevering with great happiness throughout.
Special Olympics USA hosts many events on behalf of its Unified Sports division, which the high school is part of, and includes all schools who are willing to join.
Unified Sports is an extension of the inclusion-driven message of the organization and differs from other Special Olympics events in that both students with disabilities and volunteers are paired on the same team to compete.
Ms. Annie Higgins, coach for the 2024 BRHS Unified Track and Field team, shared her appreciation for the annual event.
“The Special Olympics track and field event is one of the highlights of every school year. Athletes from all over Somerset County come together to compete in a positive and encouraging environment, supported by their coaches, hundreds of volunteers as well as family and friends. It is always emotional to hear The Special Olympics oath ‘Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.’ This quote serves as a great reminder that we should all just keep trying and doing our best to every single day,” she said.
