FOUR MEDAL HAUL FOR ST. PETER SAINTS SPECIAL OLYMPIAN
Full day of competition at sports venues around city
Peterborough has been the host this week to the 2018 Special Olympics Ontario School Championships (SOOSC), a celebration of high school athleticism in the city and across the country.
With more than 1,000 high school school athletes visiting the city to compete, and more than 300 volunteers from the Peterborough area, Wednesday was a busy day of competition at five different venues throughout the city.
The SOOSC includes five sports: Basketball, floor hockey, bocce, soccer and track and field. The games have two separate divisions for athletes. The first is traditional teams, made up of athletes living with an intellectual disability, and the other is made up of unified teams, where players both with or without an intellectual disability play together.
Trent University hosted both divisions of bocce on their West Bank fields Wednesday. The St. Peter Saints advanced straight to the gold-medal game after winning two round-robin games, against Galt Collegiate Institute 9-4 and Owen Sound 7-0 in the traditional division.
In the unified division, the Saints won 6-5 against the St. Peter Panthers from Barrie, after winning their two round-robin matches, and advanced to the finals against the Bert Church Chargers from Alberta. The Saints brought home the silver medal with a final score of 6-4 for the Chargers.
At Thomas A. Stewart, athletes competed in single races, relays, and jumping events, for track and field.
Miranda Moorcroft, a Grade 10 athlete from St. Peter Secondary School in Peterborough, won four medals over the course of the competition and carried the Olympic torch during opening ceremonies. Moorcroft was awarded the gold medal in running long jump, bronze in the 200m sprint, placing in the 100m, and gold after finishing a stellar run in the 400m race.
“I practice running a lot,” Moorcroft said. “I just ask my mom if I can go for a run and just listen to music.”
Basketball was spread out over two separate venues, as the traditional teams played at St. Peter, and the unified teams faced off at Trent University.
There were six separate divisions for the traditional teams, with Adam Scott Collegiate as the only local team playing basketball in the traditional league. The Adam Scott Lions took home the gold medal, winning the final for their division 22-8 against the Cornwall Raiders.
Over at Trent University, the St. Peter Saints were representing Peterborough in the unified league, making their way into the playoffs. The Saints played well and lost in a close game to the Bracebridge and Muskoka Lakers 30-22.
“It’s been a great turnout to the event,” said Joanne Cornelisse, a coach for Peak North-Huron Heights. “There’s a lot of enthusiasm from all the athletes and coaches.”
The Special Olympics Ontario School Championships concluded with the closing ceremonies Wednesday night at the Memorial Centre.
NOTE: Results can be found at sooschoolchampionships2018.ca