THANK YOU

The SC delegation has returned safely from Nebraska. We arrived at the Columbia Airport yesterday afternoon to a crowd of family, friends, and supporters. Folks made signs, brought ballons and flowers. It was a great welcome home! The media was out to catch the excitement as well. The Special Olympics moto is "Be a Fan", and it is clear that we have many Fans in South Carolina. Thank you!



Friday was spend in the last rounds of competition. The SC Dragons of Summerville won the championship game to take home Gold in basketball, and remained undefeated throughout the tournament! The SC Rebels of Airport and BC High School won a bronze in the Unified basketball division. In Unified soccer, the SC Hornets from the School for Deaf and Blind won a silver and the SC Rage of Sumter High took 4th place. The SC Cougars of Woodmont High came in 4th in Unified Volleyball. In Unifed Softball, the SC Kings of Pickens brought home the silver.



The final medal count for Team SOSC is 131 medals!

Gold- 33

Silver- 52

Bronze-46



Thank you again to all our Fans and supporters. Also a big thank you to everyone to made this trip possible! From the Coaches who helped trained the Athletes on a local level, to the parents and caregivers who helped get ALL the paperwork in and Athletes ready to go, to the many folks who helped with the fundraising process. It was a wonderful week, and an experience everyone will always remember.

Pictures

SC Cougars Volleyball with Team Minnesota

Jamie and Buck on the awards podium for Bowling Doubles

SC Dragons Basketball Team

Medal Count

The week is wrapping up, and all around campus we are seeing Athletes wearing medals and ribbons. Team South Carolina is doing very well! To follow our success and see individual Athletes results go to www.2010specialolympics.org. At the top right of the screen, click on "View Results". Find the South Carolina delegation and find your Athlete.

At the close of competition today, Team SC has earned 19 Gold, 34 Silver, and 29 Bronze medals.

Tomorrow brings final Medal Rounds for all the team sports. The SC Dragons basketball won today against Nebraska and are STILL undefeated going in to the Championship game.


A few highlights-

Golfer Christopher McPhearson of Hilton Head Island earned a Silver and came in 2nd for the entire tournament in Individual Skills. Christopher just started golfing last August, and we are looking forward watching him progress in this sport.

After their Volleyball game today, the SC team presented the Minnesota team with a signed SOSC shirt. The teams have played several times this week and became friends. After presenting the shirt, both teams posed for a picture together.

New Special Olympics Golf Record!!!

Athlete Scott Rohrer of Rock Hill SC broke the Special Olympics Record in golf yesterday! He shot a 71 on the Highlands Golf Course in Level 5 (18 hole play) competition. There has been much buzz about this around the games. While riding the shuttle home from Olympic Town yesterday, a Unified Partner from Missouri said "Did you hear about the Athlete that shot 71 today?". He was also featured on the local news here in Lincoln last night. We are very proud to have him as a member of TEAM SC.

The SC Dragons Basketball team, of Dorchester County, have won all 3 games they have played so far. Their last "pool play" game is tomorrow at 2pm, and then it is on to the medal rounds.

Charleston Athlete Desmond Holmes came in 1st in the preliminary round of his 100m Run event. I think it was the new running shoes (donated by Try Sports in Mt Pleasant) and the personal training (donated by Premier Physical Therapy) that helped him run so fast! Thank you to Angi, Crystal and Jill for all your support.

Opening Ceremonies

Traveling in style!

We have arrived!

After a very easy and enjoyable flight, the SC Delegation has landed in Nebraska! I am very pleased with our Athletes, Coaches and Partners on how well everyone traveled. We managed to get all 154 of us checked in and through security and waiting at our gate in the airport in under an hour! Pretty impressive. For many of our Athletes (and a few Coaches) this was their first time flying. Right before take off everyone was seated quietly and listening intently to the safety talk...something that you don't see much on commercial flights. As we taxied down the runway, just as the plane began to pick up speed for take off the quiet plane suddenly burst into a roar of squeals and laughter. I turned around to see everyone smiling and laughing...and even a few folks with their hands in the air, like it was a rollercoaster! It was a great moment, and one we wont soon forget!
The volunteers in Lincoln have been wonderful. As soon as we landed and stepped off the plane they were there to greet us. The volunteers loaded all our luggage onto trucks and brought to the dorms. The delegation loaded into buses for the ride to campus. We even had an official motorcycle brigade escort.

The Athletes have spent today practicing, with some sports holding preliminaries. In a few minutes we are going to head to Opening Ceremonies. For those watching at home, the Ceremonies will be broadcast on the internet live at 4pm (EST).

http://live.cnn.com/

SC will be wearing lime green shirts. You are sure to see us! We have been told that you should be able to see everyone's face during the Parade of Athletes. Hope you can tune in.

I will try to post pictures tonight. (I have to figure out to do that!)