CMU and Special Olympic athletes crowned champions
McGuirk Arena was full of champions on the night of April 24.
Central Michigan University's Intramural program and Special Olympic college student organization were named National Unified Champion School by Special Olympics International during an award ceremony.
CMU and the Special Olympics have a long history together. In 1975, the Special Olympics was held at CMU's campus for the first time. CMU was the first school to offer unified IM leagues -- now more than 100 schools do so, said Stan Shingles, associate vice president of University Recreation.
"The shared values between CMU and Special Olympics Michigan (SOMI) create the bond we have today," Shingles said. "We are a match made in heaven."
Shingles said CMU and SOMI share the core values of integrity, respect, compassion, inclusiveness, excellence and innovation.
"Research shows that unified sports can transform people's behavior as it relates to citizenship," Shingles said.
CMU was one of five schools to receive the honor of being named a National Unified Champion school, senior director of program leadership Dan Ekonen said.
Ekonen said CMU and the Special Olympic college have more than 200 athletes involved, and have competed at Ohio State University at the national level.
Seniors Matti Hisey and Victoria Hopkins were awarded partners of the year by the board of the Special Olympics student organization. Both Hisey and Hopkins have been a part of the program for two years.
"The club gets together to plan events and fundraisers -- the fundraisers are for us to be able to create events for the athletes," Hisey said.
The athlete of the year was awarded to Mike "Mikey" Betka.
Following the banner and awards ceremonies, the Unified IM teams took the floor to compete for the volleyball championship.
The first match was between the Chippewas and the Bulldogs. The Chippewas won the first game while the Bulldogs took game two.
Game three was for the championship, and the Bulldogs held off a valiant comeback attempt by the Chippewas to win a championship.
The second match was between the Mean Machines and the Volleyballers. The Mean Machines swept the Volleyballers in two games.
Each winning team was awarded a championship t-shirt.
Throughout the night, the athletes and their partners filled the gym with laughter and smiles. Athletes encouraged one another and laughed with each other.
"I have a cousin who has autism, and I think the Special Olympics are a great organization," Garden City freshman Robert Ujkaj said. "Seeing the smile on my cousins face after he plays is heart-warming.
