Eight Special Olympics Minnesota Athletes Selected to Compete at 2011 World Summer Games

Games will be held June 25 – July 4 in Athens, Greece

MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Eight Special Olympics Minnesota athletes have been selected to Team USA at the 2011 World Summer Games in Athens, Greece, June 25- July 4, 2011.

The Minnesotans selected to Team USA include Jake Sawyer, 21, a swimmer from Champlin; fellow swimmer Amy Holty, 30, of Rochester; track & field athlete Kristina Fritz, 32, of Woodbury; bocce player Tyler DeVries, 24, of Underwood; Blaine Cox, 23, a bowler from North Mankato; equestrian athlete Matthew Schoenbauer, 13, of New Prague; and tennis players Richard Martin, 27, of Hibbing and Katie VandenBosch, 20, of Farmington.

Seven alternates have also been named, including Marcus Kellin, 17, of Cohasset; Hannah Behnken, 16, of Woodbury; Amy Weller, 24, of Roseville; Tony Kahle, 33, of Lexington; George Dedeker, 37, of Shakopee; John Conway, 20, of Mendota Heights and Katherine Strege, 27, of Nashwauk.

The Special Olympics World Summer Games will be the biggest sporting event worldwide in 2011, bringing together 7,500 Special Olympics athletes from 185 nations. Each athlete will compete in one of 22 Olympic sports. Special Olympics hosts the World Summer Games and the World Winter Games every two years on a rotating schedule. The last World Games competition was the 2009 World Winter Games in Boise, Idaho.

The eight Minnesota athletes will join nearly 300 other athletes from all 50 states and the District of Columbia to participate together as Team USA. The team will compete in athletics, aquatics, bocce, bowling, canoeing, cycling, equestrian, golf, gymnastics, powerlifting, sailing, tennis, basketball, soccer, softball and volleyball. The athletes will travel with 120 coaches and support staff from 39 states, including two coaches from Minnesota.

Special Olympics Minnesota offers children and adults with intellectual disabilities year-round sports training and competition. Through Special Olympics' athletic, health and leadership programs, people with intellectual disabilities transform themselves, their communities and the world.

SOURCE Special Olympics Minnesota