Special Olympic Wyoming State Games Back On; Jackalope Jump Held In Sheridan

Recently many special athletes were not just in Sheridan to compete for the upcoming summer games, but also to catch up with old friends and meet new ones.

Now that the COVID pandemic has loosened its grip on the state, the athletes can catch up and compete against friends they have not seen in some time.

Athletes from the five northeast Wyoming counties were in Sheridan competing in basketball, power-lifting, swimming and track and field, in preparations for the state summer games that will be held in Gillette in the next few weeks.

During the pandemic, the games went on, but not at a state-wide level, because there were number restrictions.

Carrie Pilcher is the Northeast District Director for Special Olympics Wyoming.

She says the winter games back in March were the first unrestricted state games since the pandemic started and that meant a lot to the athletes from a social stand-point.

“The social aspect of what we do at Special Olympics is a big part of it for our athletes. They sometimes, 3 times a year get together with all of their friends from all over the state, celebrate their victories and we tried to do that virtually and a virtual dance party is not near as fun as a victory banquet, so they’re really looking forward to getting back to that stuff.”

This past Friday (April 28th), the rescheduled Jack-a-lope jump took place at the Sheridan High School Track.

Due to a low turn-out, instead of having people jump into a tank of cold water, members of Sheridan Fire and Rescue turned on a fire hose and participants ran through the water from that.

The jump serves as a fundraiser for Special Olympics Wyoming, and this year’s event raised about $5,700.