MOULTRIE, Ga. — Colquitt County Special Olympics athletes received letterman jackets for the first time Thursday in a ceremony at Colquitt County High School.

All the athletes were given their letters for competing in the varsity level basketball games for two consecutive years on the local or state level, according to Mitchell McKinney, who is the local coordinator for Special Olympic events.

“All the athletes have competed in the local level, some have competed in the state level in Atlanta,” McKinney said in an interview following the ceremony.

Some athletes have also competed in sports such as flag football, soccer, track and field, bocce and even alpine snow skiing in North Carolina, McKinney said.

The athletes were presented their jackets by members of the Packer Basketball and the Lady Packer Basketball teams. The athletes who were awarded with letterman jackets were:

• Jeremiah Spence.
• Demetrius Starling.
• Jaray Swoope.
• Joseph Stocker.
• Destiny Inman.
• Alexus Brown.
• Sergio Romulo.
• Braxton Adams.
• Ty Arrington. 
• Uriel Francisco.
• Garrett Martin.
• Shawn Ward.
• Nalla Raby.
• Quan Davis.
• David Faulk.
• Hayden Mitchell.
• Austin Nieman.

Because this is the first year, rising seniors and graduating seniors were honored. Going forward, the event will feature solely rising seniors, according to McKinney. 

CCHS Principal Dan Chappius stated that he plans to continue the event for athletes who meet the qualifications in years to come. 

“Every year from here on we’ll be doing this ceremony just like many of our other sports,” he said in an interview after the event.

McKinney stated that the support the athletes have gotten from the school and the community has been “a blessing.”

“It’s amazing. I am blessed to see just how much our community does for our Special Olympics athletes. In fact, this wasn’t our idea, (Chappius) came to us and said, ‘This is something I think we should do and be a part of.’ We knew that it was something we wanted to be a part of. It’s so rewarding to see the smile on the athletes’ faces. It’s really past due,” McKinney said.

Chappius agreed saying, “This is a good day. We couldn’t be happier to recognize them and we’re proud of them and all of their accomplishments.”