Horizon League, Special Olympics Indiana Team Up for Bowling

INDIANAPOLIS – The Horizon League and Special Olympics Indiana renewed their long-standing partnership this week, with members of the Horizon League Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and Special Olympic athletes teaming up to compete head-to-head on local bowling lanes. The annual event took place during the SAAC’s three-day summit that focuses on a variety of student-athlete development topics and sets the conference-wide agenda for the upcoming academic year.

The Horizon League and Special Olympics Indiana partnership began in 2004 as part of the National Day of Service program and has evolved into an annual opportunity to engage with and build relationships with the Special Olympics athletes.

“Special Olympic athletes are amazing. We are so grateful to have the opportunity to compete with them and to play with them. It’s such a great organization,” said Milwaukee senior swimmer Arica Smith. “We get to learn from them, in terms of their athleticism, their competitiveness and their camaraderie – and they get to learn from us and what we do with SAAC. I’m so happy that we get that opportunity to compete with them because they’re just amazing people.”

“It’s extremely rewarding to see these kids out here bowling with us, beating us, and just the energy they bring,” said UIC sophomore basketball player Jordan Blount. “It really uplifts us and makes you feel great to be able to give back and be there with them to share those moments.”

In addition to the bowling outing, Horizon League SAAC members tackled a variety of national, conference and campus-specific issues during their meetings in Indianapolis, including the implementation of a new Horizon League governance structure that provides student-athletes a voice and a vote on all five of the League’s standing cabinets and on the Executive Council.

2017 Horizon League Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Members

Cleveland State:

Sophie Kelner, Senior, Women’s Golf                 

Jon Lavalle, Senior, Men’s Swimming/Diving                 

Detroit Mercy:

Suzie Redick, Junior, Women’s Soccer            

Charlie Felton, Junior, Men’s Cross Country/Track & Field                    

Green Bay:

Jessica Lindstrom, Senior, Women’s Basketball            

Bennett Hutson, Junior, Men’s Golf                                

IUPUI:

Allex Brown, Junior, Women’s Basketball   

Jeremy Breedlove, Senior, Men’s Cross Country/Track & Field                 

Milwaukee:

Arica Smith, Senior, Women’s Swimming/Diving

Francesco Saporito, Junior, Men’s Soccer      

Northern Kentucky:

Kelly Turner, Sophomore, Women’s Volleyball 

Jacob Poore, Sophomore, Men’s Golf  

Oakland:

Sidney Santos, Junior, Women’s Basketball           

Nathaniel Schweers, Junior, Men’s Baseball   

UIC:

Janeka Stokes, Sophomore, Women’s Cross Country/Track & Field

Jordan Blount, Sophomore, Men’s Basketball 

Wright State:

Macey Gunther, Junior, Women’s Softball

Sam Meek, Junior, Men’s Golf 

Youngstown State: 

Alexis Roach, Junior, Women’s Softball

Alan Burns, Junior, Men’s Cross Country/Track & Field