Seven local Special Olympics bowlers move on to state games
EL CENTRO — More than 50 local special needs athletes on Saturday afternoon took to the bowling lanes at StrikeZone here and competed in the annual Special Olympic Southern California Regional bowling tournament in hopes of advancing to the state tournament.
It was the second year in a row the Imperial Valley Special Olympics organization hosted the annual regional tourney. Alongside the 53 local bowlers, approximately 20 from San Diego also competed.
Those who finished with a high enough score qualified for the Los Angeles State Games, which will take place Aug. 25 in Fountain Valley.
“That’s the big state game where they compete against everybody from Southern California,” City of El Centro’s Recreation Supervisor Patricia Urena said on Saturday.
“That’s when the competition gets even deeper and deeper. Today’s competition was pretty tight. Some of the numbers were really close, some by one point.”
Out of the Valley’s Special Olympic bowlers, seven qualified to advance to the state games, including Michael Hack, Devra Bell, Brandon Prieto, Austin Sharpe, Julius Laguna, Kelli Holmes and Salvador Juarez
The Valley’s top two scorers were Sharpe and Hack. Out of three games, Sharpe finished with a total score of 442 while Hack finished with a total score of 416.
The tourney used all of StrikeZone’s 24 lanes, and the top three finishers in each lane were presented with either a gold, silver or bronze medal from a group of county deputies and El Centro police officers.
“They’re very excited because everyone here comes out with a medal,” Urena said.
“They’re always fascinated because they know they have the law enforcement officers here that are backing them up.”