Bowlers compete in Special Olympics

Parents and teammates watched as senior Hannah Casey rolled the ball down lane three. As the ball hit the pins, the crowd cheered when all the pins fell for a strike.

Casey, along with sophomore Edel Klassen, freshman Alex Hinojosa and junior Nicolas Garcia, competed in the Special Olympics bowling competition on Nov. 8 in Lubbock. Each played two games in three hours.

Klassen’s final score was 174 for first place and a gold medal. Hinojosa scored 125 and also took a first place and a gold medal. Casey’s final score was 239 in a tie for second, and she got a silver medal.

“I had a really good time there,” Casey said. “I got a couple of spares and strikes. My mom was so excited when I got a strike, and it was very special to me.”

Garcia’s final score was 116 which placed him in third for a bronze medal.

“I think I did pretty well,” Garcia said. “There was a lot of players in my lane from different schools. The most pins I got down at once was 8 pins, and I got one spare. I was so shocked when I got that spare because the first few times when I wasn’t doing well, I kept thinking to myself, ‘I wish I could do better’ and when I saw that I had finally gotten all the pins down, I was so happy.”

Garcia swung the ball down the lane by himself without any help from the bowling ball ramp.

“My family tried to help me,” Garcia said, “but I knew that I could do it myself and make my own choices.”

This was the first year for Seminole to compete in the Special Olympics.

FACES aide Sonnet Landy said she was “so excited” to help the students compete in an outside event.

“It gives our students a chance to be athletic,” Landy said. “We definitely plan on doing this again next year.”