With spring sports in full swing, a group of athletes from LT’s Special Olympics Track Team practice and prepare for regional meets. 

Athletes compete in shot put using a tennis ball, softball, or shot put; they also compete in running events, which vary anywhere from 50 meters to 1500 meters. Athletes participate in standing or running jumping as well, head coach Jill Vaupell said. 

“We have an initial assessment to see what areas each athlete performs best in,” Vaupell said. “Those two events are focused upon in practice, and athletes train hard to improve.”

At practice, athletes do stretches and then get into stations to practice at their event. Special Olympics track team member Elizabeth Schmidt, ’27, said. 

“I do the 200m and shotput,” Schmidt said. “We practice once a week, and I really like it.”

Practices are on Tuesdays in the SC fieldhouse at 3:15 p.m. 

“[At practice] we have three different stations where athletes will rotate and practice for their regional events,” Vaupell said. “There is also a conditioning station to build strength, agility, and flexibility. At the end, we do a fitness-focused game for team building.”

Schmidt participated in track during middle school and also did Special Olympics basketball in the fall. That is what made her decide to do track in the spring, Schmidt said. 

“[My goal for the season] is to work hard.” Schmidt said. “Track is a good place to meet friends and have fun.”

This season, in addition to having fun, the teams’ goal is to improve skills and build teamwork, Vaupell said. 

Similar to Schmidt, Jack van Alphen ‘26 participated in Special Olympics basketball. He really liked the program, so he decided to participate in track as well. Van Alphen participates in running, throwing, and jumping events, he said

The Special Olympics track is in Region C, and they compete against other schools in the region. The athletes compete in the two events they have been training for. The regional meet was April 27 and 28, and the local high school meet was May 4 at Willowbrook High School in Villa Park, Vaupell said.