WDHS Athletes in the Olympics

Western Dubuque Special Olympics State Qualifiers pictured from left to right: Lee Greenwood, Shaille Morgan, Brennan Koopmann, Shelby Heiderscheit, and Caleb Ernzen. 

BY BRAD PRIER

Track and field, bowling, cross country skiiing, and bocce ball are probably not sports you would expect the same person play in a single year. However, this busy and diverse schedule is exactly what the Western Dubuque Special Olympics team has been following this year. The team has competed in the area and state level in these sports. The mission of Special Olympics is “to provide year-round sports training and athletic competitions in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disability...with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.”
“Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.” This is the oath of the Special Olympics participants and serves as the motivation for these athletes. The Western Dubuque team consists of seven athletes currently and over 30 in the program’s eight-year history. The current athletes are Caleb Ernzen, Brennan Koopmann, Shelby Heiderscheit, Lee Greenwood, Shaille Morgan, Jeff Leibold, and Brandon Klein. The team just recently competed in track and field at the area level and the participants pictured above are those that have qualified for state.
They qualified as follows: Ernzen in 50-meter dash, Greenwood in shot put and 100-meter dash, Heiderscheit in turbo javelin, Koopmann in shot put, and Morgan in 100-meter dash.
Coach Laurie Fallon had this to say to the general public, “I am always looking for volunteers to help with the WDHS Special Olympics team and Dyersville team. After high school, many of these students continue to adult teams.”