Behind seven gold medals and standout performances, the Piedmont Lakes Middle School Special Olympics track and field team delivered a memorable showing at the Florida State Special Olympics on May 15-16 at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports. 

Competing against athletes from across the state, Piedmont Lakes saw all five of its athletes reach the podium, highlighted by multiple gold medal performances and personal-best results. 

Maleek Brooks from the eighth grade made an immediate impact in his first year competing, winning gold in both the 10-meter wheelchair race and the 25-meter wheelchair race. Brooks also improved his time in the 10-meter race at seven seconds. 

Another eight grader, Jeanvier Rivera Rivera also excelled in a first-time appearance, earning gold in the 100-meter run while placing fourth in the running long jump. 

Jazzmin Gonzalez from the sixth grade continued her success in the program with another strong state performance. Gonzalez placed fourth in the 50-meter run and captured gold in the standing long jump. 

Seventh grader Umal Dones turned in one of the meet’s most dominant performances, winning gold in both the running long jump with a leap of 2.9 meters and the 200-meter run. Like several of Piedmont Lakes’ athletes, it was Dones’ first year competing in Special Olympics track and field. 

Mark Delfino added another state win for Piedmont Lakes, winning gold in the 100-meter run during his first season competing in track and field and second year overall participating in Special Olympics. 

In total, the five-athlete group brought home seven gold medals during the two-day state competition. 

Coach Shay Engel said the experience was about much more than medals and results. 

“Special Olympics is open to any child, technically it’s open to anybody,” Engel said. “It is primarily focused with children who have any sort of intellectual disability, but it also includes unified partners, so that would be non-disabled students or adults who just want to compete with their peers. Any child can join the team. There is never any restriction. They just need to register. It is an amazing program.” 

Engel spoke about their first year altogether. 

“It was their first year competing with me,” Engel said. “One of them, Miss Jasmine, has been doing this about two years, so she walked in like she owned the place because she knew what she was doing.” 

Throughout the season, Engel emphasized creating an environment where the athletes felt comfortable, confident and supported. 

“They do understand when they walk in this place, that so many of them are just like them,” Engel said. “It’s immediate, it’s a place where they know they have that sense of belonging. They also get awards and they get to celebrate, and especially for some of my first-timers, they had an incredible time.” 

Saturday proved to be the biggest day for the team, with every competition ending in a gold medal performance. 

“Saturday was definitely the biggest day,” Engel said. “All of our athletes, every competition Saturday was a gold. They did so ridiculously incredible Saturday.” 

For Engel, watching the athletes battle through nerves and exhaustion made the performances even more meaningful. 

“I am so ridiculously proud of them,” Engel said. “These kids are amazing, and I love them so much. Some of these students have never done anything like this, and it’s brand new. Sometimes it’s overwhelming, it’s hot, they don’t feel great being out there, they’re tired, but they pushed through without even considering all that, because that’s what they want to do, and they absolutely killed it.” 

Engel also hopes the performances help people better understand what Special Olympics represents. 

“It’s not just a program for disabled kids,” Engel said. “It is a program that encompasses so many people in so many different areas and invites everybody. The more support and more involvement we have, the bigger the program, especially at the school level.” 

With several athletes set to continue competing at the high school level, Engel believes the future remains bright for the program. 

“Luckily all of the high schools that my kiddos will be going to also have Special Olympics teams, and pretty darn good ones,” she said. “They all have future success, wherever they want to take it to.”