Hancock County Teams, Athletes Advance To Special Olympics State Tourney
Teams from Blanchard Valley Center in Findlay have advanced to the Special Olympics Ohio State Tournament in basketball and swimming.
The Division III Hancock County Special Olympics basketball team won their regional championship game and will move on to the state tournament taking place March 3-5 at Bowling Green State University.
The Division V team took silver in their regional championship game.
The Division III team will play at the Stroh Center at 1 p.m. on March 4th against the winners of the Southwest Region.
If Hancock County wins, they will proceed to compete for silver or gold on Sunday March 5th at 11 a.m. in the Stroh Center.
According to Special Olympics Ohio, the indoor winter games are their second largest state-level annual event.
The event hosts athletes, unified partners, and coaches from across the state to compete in basketball, basketball skills, cheerleading, and swimming.
In addition to Hancock County being represented in basketball, the county will have five swimmers competing at the state level too.
Alex Beasley, Logan Beasley, Jayden Farmer, Trevor Mahler, and Elizabeth Sopher will each compete twice on Saturday, March 4th in their respective events.
A relay team comprised of four of the five swimmers will compete as well. They received gold at the regional level.
“Coaches Austin Cornette, Lauren Warnement, Kathryn Samuelson and athletes deserve a lot of kudos for pushing hard this season,” said Nadine Weininger with Blanchard Valley Center.
“Melanie Williams, Special Olympics Coordinator for Hancock County, is proud to see the continued perseverance of all athletes, no matter the outcome.”