Vernon Mountaineers one again perform well at Special Olympics
| 11 Feb 2016 | 04:22

At the left and right are Vernon Mountaineers Teresa Kelly and Karen Byrne. At the center is racer Pauline Naturile of Spring Lake Heights. Byrne went on to win the gold medal in the event.

Shown during the cross-country skiing awards ceremony are Pauline Naturile, gold-medal winner and Vernon Mountaineer Karen Byrne, Joelle Bredon, and Vernon Mountaineer Teresa Kelly.

Preparing to board the lift for their second races of the day are Carol Spilotras of Barry Lakes and double gold-medal winner Kyle Dehn of Glenwood.

An official offers suggestions as she coaches Teresa Kelly of Franklin to the starting gate.

Vernon Mountaineer and double gold-medal winner Karen Byrne breaks away from the other skiers.
VERNON — If there is one thing the Vernon Mountaineers can do well, it’s ski.
In both cross-country and downhill skiing, this team of athletes brought home an assortment of medals from last week’s 2016 Special Olympics Winter Games at Mountain Creek.
This year’s team consisted of Shawn Barber, Lawrence Bono, Karen Byrne, Kyle DeGroat, Kyle Dehn, Jeremy Dobies, Teresa Kelly, Carol Spilotras, and Dakota Toomes.
Highlights include Byrne bringing home two gold medals two different cross-country events and Barber being awarded two gold medals as was also the case with Dehn. Bono placed first and third. DeGroat and Dobies both won second- and third-place awards. Spilotras won a silver medal and Toomes won a gold medal.
— Photos by Chris Wyman