Friday marked the final day of competition and awards for the 2010 National Games. We had only a few events left, but we finished strong all around. Get Friday’s results here.
In aquatics, our 4 x 50 relay team of Justin Goolsby, Tim Jenkins, Kodie McWilliams and Dan Scheiber got gold medals. Michelle Conley was ready for her 100 butterfly, but had a bad dive into the pool. She struggled for a minute, then finished in third place. It turns out she had hit her toe during her dive and broken it. It’s amazing that she finished third, because that race requires you to push off the wall three times!
At basketball, Darrius Roberts started the day off on a high note by singing the national anthem. Then both teams played very tough games, with green taking on Mississippi and blue facing New Jersey. Although neither team ended up ahead on the scoreboard, all of the athletes did their very best and get to bring home well-deserved silver medals.
Volleyball beat Nebraska white in their first game to advance to the gold medal game. However, they lost to Iowa in the championship round. They ended the tournament with silver medals. Watch a video here.
As reported earlier, the softball team was in their own division because there were no other teams skilled enough to play them. This meant they got automatic gold medals. They had their awards presentation on Friday. The tennis team cheered them on – read about it here.
Closing Ceremonies rounded out the National Games Friday night. There were performances by FeFe Dobson, Small Change, Kristinia DeBarge and Special Olympics Nebraska athlete David Steffan. If you attended the 2006 National Games or the 2008 SOMO State Summer Games, you may remember David’s performance of his original song about Special Olympics. Tonight he performed a new song for us.
The highlight of the ceremony was the announcement that, due to our unmatched energy and sheer size and presence, MO Magic fans won the Super Fan award! Team Missouri celebrated that announcement like our entire state had won a gold medal. Thank you so much, fans. You have truly made this experience so much more memorable, and your cheers have motivated our athletes to do their very best, push harder and make you proud.
Participants of the Youth Activation Summit were also featured in the ceremony. They spoke about acceptance and inclusion, and offered ideas for being a fan and getting involved. Learn more about that here.
After the ceremony, members of the team swapped shirts, hats, pins and jerseys with delegates from other states. Most of us didn’t have any trouble making trades since Mo Magic gear are such hot items! The toughest thing to get were the Nebraska polos, but since they are staying in our dorm, many athletes traded with them upon returning for the night. Volleyball coach Curt Yaeger was the most aggressive pin trader of the week, ending up with a pin from all 48 delegations.
Team Missouri will head home on Saturday. Although we’re sad the week is over, most of us are ready to sleep (for more than five hours) in our own beds. It has been an incredible week which none of us will ever forget. It’s hard to express what this experience has been like, but with the help of Rachel and our guest bloggers, we have tried. Check out their last posts below, and check back next week for one final post with a full tally of results and media.