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20 YEARS

WORLDWHEELCHAIRSPORTS.COM

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How did World Wheelchair Sports begin? Well the seeds were planted when Connie and I moved to Eugene in 1980 to attend the U of O. A mentor of

mine named Roger Anderson was a gifted double amputee athlete and he convinced me that even quads could be involved in track. With major encouragment and equipment maintenence help from my longtime friend Randy Sprick I began competing in the wheelchair track events conducted in 1980-82 at Hayward Field by Joan Kelly, John Smith and others.

My major in college then changed from English to Phys.Ed with emphasis on exercise programs and periodization. My first guinea pig (besides myself) was Roger, who was experiencing tendonnitis in his elbows while training for the Boston Marathon. I figured out that Roger was usng too small a handring and doing too many steep hill repeats without enough rest between workouts.

In 1986 I met Craig Blanchette who proved to be a prodigy. In 1987 Craig won 12 of 14 major national races and attracted alot of attenntion. Paralympic wheelchair athlete Rafael Ibarra moved to Eugene to train with Craig and I for the 1988 Olympics. Blanchette won the bronze medal in the 1500 meter wheelchair race at the Olympics in Seoul Korea. A month later at the Paralympics (held at the same Olympic venue) Rafy won the gold in the 800meters, a bronze in the Marathon and a bronze in the 4x400m relay.

At the Prefontaine Classic in 1989, Track legend and writer Kenny Moore w i t n e s s e d Blanchette demolish the wheelchair mile World Record by 8 seconds with a time of 3 minutes 51 seconds. Craig’s performance so impressed Moore that he convinced the editors at Sports Illustrated to publish a five page feature article. The article resulted in a Nike contract for Craig and a great deal of buzz in the wheelchair sports world about the successful training techniques being used in Oregon.

All this led up to a conversation I had with Wayne Eberspecher at the Lane County Sportsman's Fair in 1989. At the time there were so many wheelchair hoops players in Lane County that over a dozen players never got off the bench when there was only one team. Wayne was looking for a way to provide playing time for more play-ers and Craig and I were looking for a way to fund the Prefontaine Wheelchair Mile because the original sponsor, Sacred Heart Hospital, was moving on to other things. We also wanted to build our sport and provide greater recreation opportuni-ties for chair users throughout Oregon (and Wayne being Wayne, asked “why not the world?” Hence our global moniker).

I had some non-profit experience as one of the founders of the Oregon Trail Paraplegia Foundation and serving on the National Spinal Cord Injury Association’s executive committee. Wayne and I got together with Blanchette, Sheila Roberts Knapp, wheel-chair marathon pioneer Bob Hall and attor-ney Gregory Skillman and created World Wheelchair Sports in 1990.

Coach Kevin Hansen - 2010

FOUNDERSROOTS

Roger AndersonJohn & Joan 1980

Pictured from the top: Wayne Eber-specher; Sheila Roberts; Bob Hall; & L - R : K e v i n H a n s e n & C r a i g Blanchette.

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The first order of business for the new World Wheelchair Sports were to find fund-ing for the Prefontaine Wheelchair Mile and the Eugene Express Wheelchair Basketball Team.

The Eugene Express was WWS President Wayne Eberspeher’s baby and he had little trouble filling the roster. Beginning i the 90-91 season all players in Lane County had ample playing time with two teams in town. Wayne and the Express campaigned re-gionally and nationally until Wayne passed away from a stroke in 1996. Coach Han-sen has always been clueless regarding hoops so the Express and WWS parted company after Wayne’s passing. Wayne was a talker AND a man of action and he is still greatly missed by all of us who knew him. The Express lived on for several more years under the supervision of Coach Bob LaFavor.

The 1990 Prefontaine Wheelchair Mile was a transitional event with Sacred Heart pre-paring to pass the fund raising torch to World Wheelchair Sports in 1991. 1990 also contained a full slate of international races and PR events for Blanchette who was featured in an award winning Nike commercial that debuted during the Super-bowl. Craig broke his Mile record at the 1990 Pre and WWS scraped together fund-ing for the 1991 Prefontaine Mile by co-hosting “the Wheelie Great Race” with Berg’s Ski & Skate Shop for wheelers, run-ners and inline skaters in spring of 91.

The biggest event in 1991 was RACING CAMP I. The week long racing and fitness event was one of the first open to both elite AND recreational wheelchair athletes. The coaching staff was stellar and included Bob Hall (the first wheelchair entry at the Bos-ton Marathon), Craig Blanchette, Rafael Ibarra, Recreational Therapist Kathy Gran Morgan. Guest lecturers included Olym-pic hammer thrower Lance Deal on weight training; Lew Thorne from Excel Sports Science on nutrition and John Nosler, de-signer of wheels and aerodynamics expert.

A total of 25 racers showed up at the orien-tation meeting on Sunday night from as far away as New Jersey. Ages ranged from 17 to 42, with racing experience from Olympic medalist Candace Cable who had been racing for 13 years to a couple newbies. For four days the racers were pushed hard on the track and bike paths. Rose Winand won a Quickie Sports wheelchair chair from camp Sponsor Sunrise Medical, for being the athlete who showed the most determi-nation, sportsmanship and drive during the five day camp

More than half of the athletes competed at the Wheels of Fire 15K road race in Seattle the following weekend. 165 racers from ten countries competed for a share of the $25,000 purse. Candace Cable, Rose Wi-nand, Angie Hendrix and Jane Hall placed 2nd, 4th, 5th and 6th respectively in the women’s division. Blanchette won the mens division and $3,000. The only race

he didn’t win in 1991was the Boston Marathon where he was second to 3 time Boston winner Jim Knaub. Craig had 19 wins out of 20 starts in 1991.

Pictured from the top : The 1991 WWS Race Camp is fea-tured in Sports ‘n Spokes magazine; Blanchette breaks his own mile world record at the 1990 Prefontaine Classic; the 1991 camp on the front page of the Register Guard.

1990-1991PRINT MEDIA

Left: Craig Blanchette & Ra-fael Ibarra pass on some tips @ Race Camp I. Below John Nosler speaks aerodynamics.

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1992 was an Olympic year and WWS was well represented at the Paralympics in Bar-celona by Cisco Jeter.

Cisco moved to Eugene to train with Coach Hansen (along with Joe Todisco and Chris Waddell} after attending the 1991 WWS Race Camp. In Barcelona Cisco won the bronze medal in the 800m and the Gold as part of the 4x400m relay team.

The 1993 Prefontaine Wheelchair Mile was run during the Prefontaine Classic Track and Field Meet on June 5. Three racers broke Scott Hollonbeck's world re-cord of 3 minutes 40 seconds in front of 8,000+ screaming track fans. Craig Blanchette extended his Prefontaine Mile winning streak to 7 victories in as many years. Blanchette broke away from the pack 500 meters into the race and never looked back as he went on to smash the world record with a time of 3:31.48.

The 1993 U.S.A. Track and Field Champi-onships were held in Eugene the week of June 14 - 19. It was the biggest, most prestigious track and field event held in America in 1993. American track stars Carl Lewis and Jackie Joyner Kersee were among those who competed in their re-spective events for local fans and a world-

wide television audience. WWS presented a men's 1500 meter wheelchair race on June 19. A field of five racers rolled onto the Hayward Field track in front of a sta-dium crowd numbering 12,000 plus. Very timely and generous cash donations from Judy Arnesmeir of Oregon Disability Sports and the Oregon Rehabilitation Center Sports Program made the event possible

Quad Rugby/aka MurderballFor a few years WWS helped facilitate the operations of the Eugene Bandits quad rugby team (which began in 1991) and changed it’s name to Oregon Trail in 1993.

Like any team the Bandits/Oregon Trail had their ups and downs. Led by Mark Hansen, Fred Williams and Al Seals they made it to three National Championship Tournaments before merging with the Port-land team sponsored by Oregon Disability Sports in 1998.

1994 was a World Championships year.WWS was represented at the 1994 World Disabled Track & Field World Champion-ships in Berlin by paraplegics Cisco Jeter and Matt Parry and quadriplegic marathon record holder Chris Philpott. They all brought home medals and Matt Parry set a world record in the 100 meters.

BALLSPORTS BARCELONA

BERLIN

1992-1994

Pictured above: Blanchette sets another world record at the 1993 Prefontaine Classic and Cisco Jeter & Philpott with their haul of medals. At right, top to bottom are the Eugene Bandits/Oregon Trail quad rugby Team and the Eugene Express Wheelchair basketball team circa 1993.

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1995 was another eventFULL year for WWS. Coach Kevin Hansen and guest coaches Chris Philpott and Chris Waddell conducted race clinics and camps in Eugene, Portland, Salem, Olympia, San Diego and Mesa, Arizona.

On June 3 WWS sponsored a wheelchair Sports Expo at Eugene’s Hilyard Center with guest appearances by Olympians Craig Blanchette and Jim Martinson and Paralympic Champion snow skier and track racer Chris Waddell.

The following day WWS and Sunrise Medi-cal sponsored the biggest and best wheel-chair mile ever raced anywhere. Eleven of the world's top racers competed for over $4000 in athletic scholarship awards. 12,000 fans and CBS- TV watched Jeff Adams from Toronto, Canada unseat Craig Blanchette as world record holder for the mile in 3:29.93. Craig was second (with an American record of 3:30.25) of after being boxed in twice by Scot Hollonbeck and James Briggs who were training with Ad-ams at the time.

In June of 1995 WWS expanded it’s pro-grams to include disAbled Sailing of Ore-gon (disAbled SailOR). Realizing that many wheelchair users will never have the strength or motor skills to compete in many Paralympic sports, WWS looked to the water to provide a new recreational outlet for less mobile chair users.

Sailing is one of the ONLY sports where severely disabled persons and able bodied persons can compete on a nearly equal basis. With the proper equipment even high level quadriplegics can experience freedom on the water. Sailing builds confidence and fosters independence. Being out on open water with able-bodied sailors, alter-abled folks gain a boost in self-esteem and expe-rience an emotional and literal release from the confines of their wheelchairs, which stay on the dock.

The disAbled Sailing Association of British Columbia graciously lent us a 15ft Sunbird dinghy designed for mobility impaired sail-ors. Board member & quadriplegic Sheila Roberts-Knapp was the first to solo away from the docks at the Eugene Yacht Club. EYC kindly donated moorage to our pro-gram for several years and along with the Triton Yacht Club, remain strong supporters of disAbled SailOR. Our first instructor was Doug Hagenson.

Pictured from the top : The 1995 Prefontaine Wheelchair Mile; a WWS/Quickie race camp in Mesa, AZ; the Sun-bird adapted sailboat that started our sailing program.

1995 PREFONTAINERACE CAMPS

& SAILINGdisAbled SailOR

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Olympics and Paralympics held on US soil are a very big deal:

WWS was up to our collective ears in the events in Atlanta, 1996. One of the wheel-chair track coaches selected by the U.S. Olympic Committee to coach America's wheelchair track team was Kevin Hansen. He was the only wheelchair user on the Paralympic Track & Field coaching staff.

Several of the athletes named to the US Paralympic Wheelchair Track Team were trained by World Wheelchair Sports. WWS coached athletes who made the team in-cluded: Matt Parry, 100 & 200m; Tracy Miller, 100m; Rose Winand, 100 & 200m; Chris Waddell, 200, 400 & 800m; Jim Mar-tinson, 5K & 10K; and Jacob Heilveil 800, 1500, & 5000m. Craig Blanchette just missed advancing to the Olympic qualifier with a fourth place finish in the mens 1500m at the Trials. WWS trained Cheri Becerra had the best results of the bunch in Atlanta winning the bronze in the women’s 800m exhibition at the Olympics and Bronzes in the 400 & 800m and silvers in the 100 & 200. Matt Parry also won a silver in the Paralympic 100meters.

However the Paralympics weren’t the only thing on the WWS plate. Other activities included: The National Veterans Wheelchair Games were held in Seattle, WA on July 2-6. WWS spent a week in Seattle at the Vet's Games conducting sailing exhibitions and instruction to veterans from all over the country. WWS also had a large exhibit and passed out info about Quickie Race Camps and Team Quickie at the Sports Expo at the Washington Convention & Trade Center on July 2.

Shriners Hospital Sports & Sailing DaysWWS conducted a two day introduction to sailing & wheelchair sports for Portland's Shriners Hospital at Haig Lake, on July 13 - 14. Twenty-five kids from Shriners learned about sailing, wheelchair racing and the Paralympics during the event.

Junior Wheelchair Sports Camp WWS helped coordinate and coached at a week long sports camp for Eugene's Spe-cialized Recreation Services, July 29- August 2nd. Each afternoon featured a different sport - basketball, tennis, hand cycling, & racing - Friday was fun on the water day at Fernridge Reservoir featuring sailing, kayaking & barbecue.

PARALYMPICS1996

Pictured from the top : Hoops Coach Susie Grimes w/Team USA; Article in Register Guard; Jacob Heilveil ponders some advice at San Diego Camp.

At right from top: Jr. sailors; WWS exhibit @ Vets Games; Eric Nietzel, Matt Parry, Cheri Becerra & Coach Hansen at 1996 Atlanta Paralympics.

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After the Paralympics you would think that WWS might take a breather. We didn’t. On March 31, University of Oregon student Daisuke Shizuya finished an 11-day, 335 mile run from the Erb Memorial Union in Eugene to Red Square on the University of Washington campus in Seattle. He ran to raise funds and publicity for World Wheelchair Sports and to fulfill a personal dream. Shizuya, originally from Tokyo, Japan, likes to challenge stereotypes associated with people with disabilities. "I want to encourage people to pur-sue their dreams regardless of their difficulties," says Shizuya. Born with one leg shorter than the other, Shizuya is familiar with physical challenges. Yet his desire to prove he can conquer adversity and to encourage others to do the same has motivated him throughout his life. "Running has never been easy for me," says Shizuya. "But it has been my dream to prove I can overcome anything, as can anyone that puts their mind to it." Activities that many able bodied people take for granted can be accessed by the disabled with the right equipment. Shizuya emphasized this point by interrupting his trek to attend a "Wheelchair Sports Day" on Sunday, March 23 in Portland. The well attended event

was also when Coach Hansen met up with a 12 year old Eli Ettinger who would go on to race at the first OSAA wheelchair race for Sunset High in 2002, and help create Ore-gon’s first collegiate adaptive sports club at the University of Oregon in 2008.

1997-1998DAI’S DREAM

BIKE LAB’98 WOMEN’S U.S. HOOP CHAMPS

For two years World Wheelchair Sports hosted one of the best women’s wheelchair bas-ketball teams ever assembled. Led by U.S. Paralympic Basketball coach Susie Grimes, the Western Grizzlies women's wheelchair basketball team had unparalleled success. In 1997, their first year of play, the Grizzlies were second at the National Women's Wheel-chair Basketball Tournament. Doing so well their first year convinced the team they could win it all and they did just that their second year. The Western Grizzlies defeated all other contenders at the National Tournament, becoming the 1998 United States Women's Wheelchair Basketball Champions.

1997

2010

Other activities in 97 & 98 included wheelchair sports expos at Eugene’s Hilyard Center, two sports clinics for the kids at Portland’s Shriners Hospital, a Racing Camp in Eugene with Olympic Bronze medalists Craig Blanchette and Cheri Becerra. WWS also worked extensively with Eugene’s Center for Appropriate Transport in developing Bike Lab, one of the country’s first wheelchair accessible public bike workshops.

1998 also saw disAbled SailORs race for the first time in the Harvest Day Regatta, using a 1962 Victory 21 sloop re-rigged for our use by Ross Fleischman for his Eagle Scout pro-ject. Ross went on to Harvard and is now an emergency room Doctor in Portland.

Jemal Mfundushi and Coach Hansen joined Daisuke in cele-brating the Pursuit of a Dream

NEW OLD BOAT

Robert Callen check his wheel-chair’s alignment at the Center for Appropriate Transport’s accessi-ble workshop.

WWS disAbled SailORs on the Victory at the Eugene Yacht Club.

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Wheels In Nature - New in 99Knowing there is more to life than competi-tive sports, WWS created a new program called Wheels In Nature or WIN for short. WIN features muscle powered outdoor adventures designed to integrate kids and adults who use wheelchairs and people who don't.

In the sumer 1999 we conducted the first Wheels in Nature day camp in collaboration with Eugene’s Adaptive Recreation Serv-ices. Designed for Oregon youth under 18 years of age, activities included fishing and kayaking at Leaburg lake; wheelchair court sports taught by Mark Hansen; wheelchair racing taught by Paralympians Rose Wi-nand; hand-cycling and sailing taught by Coach Kevin, and a special "ARTS in Na-ture" day (led by Master Printmaker Connie Hansen, MFA). Scholarships were avail-able to low income kids.

Longer full and multi-day excursions into nature for older teens and adults include trips to local wildlife refuges via sea kay-aks, cross country skiing trips to Mt. Hood, Odell Lake and Hoodoo ski Bowl in the winter.

Coburg Run in the CountryOne of the favorite road races for Oregon runners and wheelers is the annual Coburg Run In the Country, a five or 13 mile race through the mint fields north of Eugene. In 1 9 9 9 , E r i c L o v e n d a h l a n d D a v e Wisniewski, Directors of the Run, chose to donate all proceeds from the Run to WWS. Junior racers Robert Callen and John Roberts decided to challenge themselves that year and wheel their first half marathons. Callen won with Roberts close behind. Usha Honeyman won the women’s half and Cory Hartgrave won the 5 miler.

Meyer Memorial Trust Funds Quadzilla

In July of 1999 the Meyer Memorial Trust agreed to a grant request from WWS to fund a used sailboat which we could adapt for use by wheelchair users. We needed a boat with handling characteristics similar to the Sonar 23 which is the boat sailed in Paralympic competition.

We were incredibly lucky when a Santana 525 came up for sale shortly after we re-ceived confirmation of funding from the Meyer Trust. The beauty of this boat de-sign is that it has a similar deck layout and speed rating to the Sonar 23, at half the cost. Unlike the Sonar, there are several 525's racing in Oregon so our sailors will have a good gauge of their improving skills.

The 32 year old, red race boat is very sta-ble and is the perfect height for wheelchair transfers. With the addition of roller furling sails and electronic joystick steering the boat can be crewed completely by sailors with disabilities! The crew of Quadzilla even won a race at the 2000 Emerald Cup regatta!

WHEELS IN NATURE1999-2000

At left from the top:X-C skiing on Mt. Hood wi th Stu & Nancy Rosendahl; Rena Fowler kayaks with Dr. Leslie Fuller; fishing @ Trill ium Lake; Connie Hansen teaches printmaking at the WIN camp.

At right Susan Sygall skis at Odell Lake

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In 2001 WWS resurrected two adaptive sports events that hadn’t happened for a while. The first was the Oregon Wheelchair Track Champs, which hadn’t happened since 1982. The champs were held at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon and attended by over three dozen north-west athletes. Recreation Therapist John Smith was given an award for his years of support to wheelchair track and field.

The other event was Waterfest which had been on hiatus since Eugene Adaptive Recreation and Sacred Heart hospital stopped funding it in 1995. Because of low water at Fernridge the event was held at Dexter Reservoir. Water skiing, sailing and kayaking were supplemented by generous helpings of barbecue, fishing and basket-ball.In 2002 WWS added a new program for High School wheelchair athletes.

On May 25, 2002, WWS directed the first ever wheelchair race at an Oregon high school track and field championships. Eight racers from seven high schools around the state competed before a crowd of 9500 fans at the University of Oregon’s famous Hayward Field. Track and field has a history of inclusion regarding athletes with disabilities as exemplified by the wheelchair races held as part of the pres-tigious Prefontaine Classic and wheelchair 1500 and 800 meter races held at the Olympics.

WWS coach Hansen, and Ian Jaquis, of Oregon Disability Sports, built on that his-tory of inclusion by working with the Ore-

gon School Activities Association (OSAA) to include wheelchair events at the 2002 Oregon track and field championship. With assistance from the Gordon Wright-Anne Moffett fund of the Oregon Community Foundation the event provided an opportu-nity to highlight some of Oregon’s best.

Rules for the 2002 high school track sea-son provided by the OSAA were either groundbreaking, arbitrary, or unfair, de-pending upon whom you talk to. The OSAA directed that wheelchair athletes would not be scored in track events, which relegated their performances to exhibition status. There is no denying that the 2002 Oregon High School track season was huge in terms of disability awareness and opportunities for competitive wheelchair track. Those of us working for inclusion are grateful for the awareness opportunities provided by exhibition events. However, we feel very strongly that separate is not equal and that high school activity associa-tions should score the performances of athletes with disabilities. The athletes we see at the Paralympics are often not in-cluded in extracurricular activities at their schools. If their performances were al-lowed to count towards team scores you can be sure that more coaches would reach out to them. It is time to get kids with disabilities off the sidelines and allow their performances to contribute towards the final score.

From top: Waterfest 2001 @ Dexter Lake; an article about Waterfest in the Eugene Reg-ister Guard: McNary’s Kacey McCallister edges Corbett’s-Jacob Dawes @ first OSAA wheelchair race in 2002.

2001-2002WATERFEST

HIGH SCHOOL TRACK

THE PIONEER EIGHT Robert Callen, Thurston; Jacob Dawes, Corbett; Eli Ettinger, Sunset; Sean Foster, South Salem; Walter Jones, Summit; Kacey McCallister, McNary; Colin McLain, So. Salem; & John Roberts, South Eugene

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In 2003, the Meyer Memorial Trust helped WWS buy a bright red H&H cargo Trailer from Apollo Equipment in Woodburn, Oregon. Serv-ing as a much needed storage unit, the trailer also has enabled us to increase public aware-ness of the abilities of those with physical chal-lenges. We use it as a multi-team vehicle at the University of Oregon for the OSAA State High School Track Championships, the Adaptive Ducks & at the annual Oregon Relays. It has served as an information kiosk and storage unit at our various events, having traveled to Arizona, Spokane and innumerable trips up and down I-5.

The Lane County Event Center offered World Wheelchair Sports the use of the huge Commu-nity courtyard inside the main gate at the 2003 Lane County Fair for a “Breaking Barriers” wheelchair sports Expo. We jumped at the chance to partner with Eugene’s Adaptive Rec-reation Program in filling this wonderful space with exciting activities on opening day.

We split the 140 by 100 foot space into 4 basic areas: A court sports section for wheelchair basketball demos; a racing area where we set up two stationary rollers to demonstrate wheel-chair racing; and a wheelchair obstacle course, where the public could try using a wheelchair to get over and around everyday obstacles like ramps, carpet, garden hoses and doorways. The rest of the space we used for our new trailer/kiosk and a huge 30x30 covered area for various exhibitors. Sponsors were United

Seating and Mobility, Oregon State University’s “Impact” Program, Oregon Disability Sports, Sunrise Medical, Direct Flooring Center,Team XO (former U of Oregon Track Stars), Lane In-dependent Living Alliance.

For the first time ever, Oregon sent a team of athletes to the National Junior Disabled Sports Championships, held july 10-17 in Mesa, Ari-zona. Ten junior wheelchair athletes from Ore-gon met qualifying standards for their events and age groups. For many of them it was their first experience traveling out of state for competition and every one of them did us proud.

Unfortunately, Coach Kevin Hansen and his wife Connie had to miss the trip after Connie had a fall from a tall horse and her doctor nixed the trip. Bill Abbott (Zachary’s Dad) valiantly agreed to serve as Coach. Bill stepped up even though he had just spent three days in the hospital himself. What a guy! Fantastic job Bill! We also have to acknowledge the extra effort made by Rena’s grandmother and great grandmother who towed our big red trailer 3500 miles. Many thanks to Rena Fowler’s kin. Team O had a great National Championship debut!

Kacey McCallister, Rena Fowler, Walter Jones and John Roberts all came home as National Champions. Colin McLain and David Osborne both had top 10 finishes in their first meet out of state. Zachary Abbott, Brandon Caswell, Eli Ettinger and Sean foster all won multiple medals.

2003-2004

TEAM O JUNIORS

STORM NATIONALS

ROBERTS GOES TO KIWI-LAND John Roberts of Eugene went to New Zea-land for the Wheelchair World Track Champs and won medals in the100, 200 , 400, 800 & 1500meter events.

LANE COUNTY FAIR

From top: an Oregonian article about WWS Inclusion advo-cacy; Hoops @ Fair; U of O girlz track team @ WWS Champs; Roberts in Register Guard.

At right: Team O Juniors on parade @ 2004 National Championships in Arizona.

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2005 was a sad year for WWS because we lost longtime supporter and friend Stu Rosendahl to a heart attack at the first part of the track season. There were many contributions made in memory of Stu and with them we began the Rosen-dahl Scholar Athlete award given to the middle or high school athlete excelling in the classroom and on the track. The first recipient was Zachary Abbott who was born with a condition called Sacral Agenesis. At the 2005 Junior National Wheelchair championships in Tampa, Florida Zachary became national 400-meter champion for his age group and won four silver and four bronze medals in other track and field events. Zachary had an accumulated GPA of 4.0 since Sep-tember 2003. Zach attended David Doug-las High School.

2005 Junior Nationals saw seven less competitors from Team Oregon than in 04. Brandon Caswell became Junior National Champ in the 400m and medaled in the 200, 800, 1500 and 5K. Zach Abbott had another strong performance with silver in the 200, 1500, & 800, javelin & pentath-lon and a gold medal in the 400 meters. and bronze in the discus & shot put. Sean Foster had consistent finishes of second place in the 800 and 1500 meters.

2006 - the year of selfless generosityIt was an eventful April beginning with the 5th WWS sponsored Oregon wheelchair Track Championships at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field on April Fool’s Day. Veteran USAT&F officials and WWS supporters Bill & Marcia McChesney, Jack Gelineau and Rick Sicorra once again donated their time and expertise to help WWS host athletes from around the Northwest.

When April 23 rolled around a big red truck pulled into the Hansen’s driveway and Jim Billick began unloading building supplies saying “I’m going to build a shop!”. By the the end of the day Jim &

Mitch Albert had laid the foundation for our workshop. For several months Jim would show up on his day off or after work to hammer, saw or sheetrock and now WWS has a beautiful, fully finished show-place of a workshop. All courtesy of Jim Billick, who designed the building, scrounged the materials and led a novice construction crew of volunteers through the process of building a building from scratch. We can never repay him.

Nor can we ever repay Gordon Wright and Anne Moffett for making an extraordinary private donation that combined with a grant from the Meyer Memorial Trust helped equip the shop and our trailer with all the necessary tools to fabricate and repair much of our own adaptive equip-ment.

Pictured from top: WWS work-shop; Walter Jones welding @ workshop; a snow toy fabricated at WWS workshop

2005-2006WORKSHOP

CASWELL MEDALS IN SWEDENIn his first international competition, Pendleton High School senior Brandon Caswell won a Silver Medal at the World Disabled Track Championships September 8, 2006 in Assen, Netherlands.

Brandon said “SO all in all I ended up with a 7th place finish in the 400, 9th in the 800, and silver in the 4x100. This was a lifetime experi-ence that I will never forget! Thank you all for your support!”

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Team O Scored Big @ 2007 Junior Nationals

After several years of trying, the four athletes pictured above became National Champions in the 800 meter medley relay at the Junior Na-tional Championships in Spokane, July 22-28, 2007. The athletes are (L-R) Zachary Abbott, Ben Kenyon, Kanya Sesser & Rena Fowler. Kudos to Coach Bill Abbott for his great work with the relay teams.

Eli Ettinger brought home silver medals in the 100, 200 and 400 meter races Unfortunately, Eli was not able to wheel on the relay teams as he had to return to Portland because of an illness in the family. Kanya, Zachary and Rena all be-came National Campions & multi-medalists in individual events.

Fourteen of the top junior wheelchair racers in the United States had the unique opportunity to strut their stuff at the most prestigious state-side track and field meet of the last four years. Back in July of 2007 two representatives from Nike’s “Let Me Play” initiative visited a WWS practice and asked how NIKE might help us with our involvement at the Eugene 08 Olympic Track Team Trials. WWS submitted a proposal re-questing funding to fly in the top U.S. junior wheelchair racers to race against our northwest talent. Nike said yes to our budget and the plan-ning began.

On June 28 eight male athletes competed before the biggest crowd they ever saw in a 1500m

race. On July 3 six of the top US junior females ran under the lights charming the crowd of 20,927 with their poise and athletic talent.

At the same time as the trials the City of Eugene’s Adaptive Recreation Services and WWS joined in a collaborative effort to provide adapted track & field demonstrations at the scheduled Trials youth all comers meet and sports expo a youth camp called Camp Hilyard, which provided a three day sampling of wheel-chair sports . Many thanks to everyone at Nike, the Eugene 08 LOC, Andy Fernandez, Patty Prather and all other City of Eugene staffers, Northwest Events Management, USATF, and our annual donors for helping us make this experi-ence possible.

2007-2008EUGENE 08

OLYMPIC LEGEND CARL LEWIS PUTS THE SHOT FROM THE WWS

ADAPTIVE THROWS CHAIR

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At the 2009 Jr. Nationals in St. Louis, MO, Team Oregon had another good showing.  After a week of competition the three member team had quite a medal count.  Zach Abbott & Kanya Sesser set National & World Records respectively and became multiple Junior Na-tional Champions. As a result they were both named to the Paralympic Development Team. In his first ever-national competition, Bend’s Brady Hardin won a silver medal in the 200 meter event.  Brady just started competing in track this year as a freshman on the Mountain View High School Track Team.  At the awards banquet on the final night Team O was awarded the 2nd place trophy for small teams. 

U of O Adaptive SportsIn 2009, WWS helped Eli Ettinger (an alumni of our first OSAA track championship in 2002) begin the first collegiate club sport at an Ore-gon University. The Adaptive Ducks compete against other wheelchair athletes from around the USA. The first members of the Adaptive Ducks are Ming Canaday, Eli Ettinger, Matt Howard and Molly Rogers.

In April 2010 WWS conducted the first ever Pac Ten wheelchair races at the prestigious Oregon Relays, with Ming Canaday and Matt Howard racing for the University of Oregon, Zach Abbot for University of Arizona and Sean Foster representing Oregon State. Many thanks to Meet Director Ross Krempley and the U of O Track & Field staff for inviting the wheelers

2010 also saw the emergence of a new male High School Champion, Jose Villa from North Marion High and the largest crop of female high schoolers ever at the OSAA Championships. Carleigh DeWald, Canby High, and Randi Helmkamp from Lakeridge joined Tualatin’s Kanya Sesser and Brady Hardin from Mountainview High in Bend.

The Hottest Waterfest in decades hap-pened on August 14, 200 when the high temperature peaked at 101 degrees. Andy Fernandez and the City of Eugene’s Adaptive Recreation staff joined the WWS crew to provide adrenaline rushes and much needed wet relief from the heat. Many thanks to Cam Coleman & Eugene’s Green Store for the solar power system on Quadzilla, and kudos to Jason Plant, Mitch & Julie Albert, Geni Morrow & Charlie Magee.

Finally, 2010 saw Blanchette come out of retirement. After concentrating on raising his two sons for the last eight years Craig came out to help with a junior track practice in February. He must have enjoyed himself because he decided to begin training again with Hansen and to enter some races and help with the up-coming WWS instructional video. Craig won the Masters Division at Bloomsday in April, stepped up to Open men’s and a second place finish at Duluth’s Grandmas Marathon in June, and won the famous Falmouth Race on Cape Cod in August. At age 42 he has lost 40 pounds and is joining the worlds best again at the Oz Day 10K in Australia in January 2011. He won the inaugural OZ Day in 1990. The circle is almost complete. Stay tuned...

Pictured from the top : Adap-tive Ducks; Alan @ Water-fest; Charlie Magee’s Trima-ran fully loaded; Blanchette winning again in 2010.

2009-2010

Above L-R: Jose Villa & Carleigh De-Wald @ OSAA State Championships. Below Duck Sophomore Ming Cana-day @ Oregon Relays.

[14]

WWS OLYMPIC, PARALYMPIC & WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ATHLETES

Cisco Jeter

Barcelona 92 & Berlin 94

Craig Blanchette

Seoul Olympics - 88

Cheri Becerra

Atlanta Olympics - 96

Chris Philpott

Berlin - 1994

Chris Waddell

Atlanta ‘96 & Sydney ‘00

John Roberts

New Zealand - 2003

Brandon Caswell

Netherlands - 2006

Kanya Sesser

Switzerland 2009

Zachary Abbott

Switzerland 2009

WORLD CLASS VOLUNTEERS

[15]

WWS VolunteersAbbott, BillAlbert, Mitch & JulieArkin, DanAtkins, AmberBak, SueBachelor, LynnBecerra, CheriBeeman, CassieBerg FamilyBell, RandyBernham, JohnBillick, JimBird, MarlyssBlake, NancyBlanchette, CraigBocko, LauraBoek, EmilyBoness, JasonBrecke, LeslieBuck, MattBurr, RachelButler, Carolyn & RandyCampbell, JohnColeman, CamCastro, Sean & KatlinCaswell FamilyChen, DavidChen, WylieClifton, JakeClouse, CareyCole, RayConnie, HansenCooper, AvrahamCutler, GeorgiaDavis, JoyDavis, KeithDeal, LanceDewald, GreggDove, NanDrake, DonDunlop, KeithEberly, HankEbert, BillErickson, KevinEvans, GerryEvans, JudyFalk, DaveFernandez, AndyFischer, Stuart & HelenFish, Ron (The Sailing Center)Fowler-Weiss, Miki

Forty, RobynFoster FarmsFoster, Bill & ClaudiaFoster, SeanFraser, GaryFredette, Ed & TinaFujino, MarioFuller, LeslieFuller, Kathy & TimGansel, CharlesGantner, JimGelineau, JackGoodlet, NimbusGordon, Kathy Gran - Morgan, KathyGriffin, MeganGrout, NatalieHall, Bob & JaneHamblen, LarryHansen, FloydHansen, Kevin & ConnieHansen, MarkHarnly, SueHeilveil, JacobHollonbeck, ScotHolzgraf, JamesHolzgraf, MarkHoward, Black & ShariHoward, EricHugi, JoanneHuizenga, AdamHuizenga, RobertHunter, CaitilnIams, KWIbarra, RafaelIssac, KateIverson, KristinJaquis, IanJenness, KathrynJenness, LisaJones, WalterKakumoto, NaohikoKehrein, KellieKelly, TimKlingensmith, Philip Krempley, Ross & KaylaKubitz, KylieKyame, GeorgeLakomer, HarrisonLavar, JamesLee, RichardLeVar, JamesLeve, Richard

LILALongmore, JeffLovendahl, EricMacAdam, JoanneMcChesney, Bill McChesney, MarciaMacleveen, NickMagee, CharlieMahan, JohnMann, TrishMartinson, JimMathieson, JamesMcAdam, JoanneMcCallister FamilyMcCubbin, GeoffMcGovern, LaurenMcHaffie, Jessie & DeannaMelson, JustinMelton, KatieMick, WBMohr, MargretMoran, BrandonMorgan, KathyMorrow, GeniMoss, MorganMyers, KarenOdell, DeborahOlsen, LarryOrtloff, Randall & PaulineParkhurst, KirkPeterson, JackPeterson, Mary AnnPeticlair, MerryPhilpott, ChrisPierzina, JasonPine, CassandraPlant, JasonPottker, BillPrather, PattyQuackenbush, ChrisQuick, Shana & GavinQyllie, B.Roberts, JohnRoberts, PeteRoberts, SheilaRoberts, TedRosendahl, MickeyRosendahl, Nancy & StuSasser, BrittanySchafgans, Julie RoseSchmidt, CarlySea Explorer Ship 282Sealander, Kari

Seltzer, JeffSesser, JaneShearer, TimShepard, AJShizuya, DaisukeShort, ChristinaSicora, RickSicora-Fordney, ErynSimmons, BobSiroshton, DaveSkillcamp, GregorySmith, John & DeniseSmith, JulieSmysor, ValorySposato, TaiSprick Iridisu, JessicaSprick, MattSprick, Randy & MarilynSterling, KurtTeam XOThe Sailing CenterThe Sprick FamilyTong, LillianTriton Yacht ClubTsusaki, KristineU.S. Coast Guard AuxiliaryUchitani, KeikoUnderway LLCVan Horn, RoyVandevender, SteveVobora, AndyWaddell, ChrisWallert, RickWatson, JanelleWeiss, BrruceWertheimer, KarenWilliams, FredWilliams, AprilWinand, RoseWinter, BlairWisniewski, DaveWong, SarahYoshida, TakeruZie, Brie

We may have missed some names here - please accept our sincere apologies. Our volunteers make WWS possible.

From left: Connie Hansen, Matt Sprick, Jim Billick, Craig Blanchette, Bill Abbott, Eli Ettinger. All of these people have volun-teered over 500 hours of their precious time & expertise. WWS Thanks them and all the other volunteers listed below

[16]

WWS DonorsAbbott, BillAbili-SkiAdrianoff, CarolAlbert, MitchAlexander, JackAmerican Home PatientAnderson, Merlyn & AliceAnderson, WaltAndo, KunimitsuASUO of University of OregonAT&T Wireless Services, PortlandAutzen FoundationBaden, PhyllisBathieson, JamesBeek, Charlie & NormaBerg, Jim & JaneBerg’s Ski ShopBillick, JimBivens, TomBlair Peissig, LindaBlanchette, CraigBloedel, Roger & Bette LeaBoatwright, Fred & DoloresBP Fabric of AmericaBroadbase Programs, EugeneBrown, JoyceBuck, Matt & HeatherButts, DorotheaCampbell, JohnCampus Shoe ShopCaravan Motor Hotel, PortlandCaswell FamilyCawood CommunicationsCentral Print - EugeneChefetz, HamptonChristopher Reeve Paralysis Founda-tionCity of Eugene Adaptive Recreation Clifton familyCloud, KathyCoburg Chamber of CommerceCoca Cola Bottling CompanyCoe, JeannieColeman, CodyComfort Inn, PortlandCooper, AviCopy Shop, TheCow Creek Indian FoundationCrown Plaza Hotel, Lake OswegoCundall, VernaDaley, BillDavidson Benefits Planning LLCDewald, GreggDisabled Driving SystemsDusseau, DavidEberhardt, PeterEberspecher, WayneEllsworth, RuthElsensohn, MeredithElsensohn, PatriciaEmerald Fruit and ProduceEmployee Benefit Mgmt. ServicesEndo, AiEnglish, TamiErickson, KevinEttinger, Dr. Ken & DariaEugene Yacht ClubEWEBExcel Sports ScienceExeculodge, SalemEyester, MikeFarman, Robert & JodieFaul, Donald & Kathleen

Faul, Dorothy J.FernSailorsFinklea, Arthur & MaryFischer, Stuart & HelenFiscus, JenniferFish, Ron & LeeanneFisher, Mike & HelenFoote, JefferyFoster, Bill & ClaudiaFowler, MikiFrazer, GaryFriends of Adult Community Center – West Linn, ORFuller, Kathy & TimFuller, LeslieGateway MedicalGatto, Jerry & CarolGifford, Frank & LoisGoodlet, NimbusGordon Wright & Anne Moffett Fund of the Oregon Community FoundationGran-Morgan, KathyHansen, Connie & KevinHansen, David & FrancesHansen Moran , EmmyHansen, MarkHarnley, SueHashimoto, MakiHCC Life Insurance CompanyHelm, JimHelmkamp, AmyHerman, David & ReneeHill, JimHill, MaryHoliday Inn ExpressHolmes, Jack & JoanHolmes, John (On behalf of Lisa Hol-mes)Honeyman, UshaHoward, Blake & ShariHugi, JoanneHuizenga, RobertHunter, CaitlinIn memory of Stu RosendahlInland NW Health ServicesInstrument Sales & Service Inc.Intermediary ServicesIsom, Jerry & BarbaraJack Liu PhotographyJerry’s Home Improvement CenterJohansen, MartinJohnson, Arthur C. Jones-Backstrom FamilyKageyama, NatsukoKallapa, JudyKehrein, KellyKelso Motel 6Kinko’s EugeneKlau-MedKletzok, Edward & EllenKoike, AkihiroKojima, ToshimotoKoshiuzka, KinukoKrempley, RossKwa, Ti-NingLa Mear, Kenneth & BarbaraLakeshore Motel, CentrailiaLaPorte & Associates Inc.Lehman, KittyLeVar, JamesLong, MarilynLoprinzi, BethLove, HilaryLovendahl, EricLowell State Recreation Site Rangers aMacDonald, Neil & Bernadine

Macmillian, Ian & ShirleyMarjorie, HarrisMarler, ShoshanaMathieson, James A.Mathison, B.C.McCallister, Bernie & JuleneMcDonald Gallery Fine FrameMcDonald, Jacobs, Marks & Johnson, CPAsMcDonald, RuthMcHaffie, Jessie & DeannaMcKenzie Forest ProductsMcLain, Stephen & TheresaMeyer Memorial TrustMikara, TakuyaMiller, DeeMills, HelenMitchell, JohnMobility InternationalMoffett, AnneMoffett, Gordon Wright & AnneMohr, Margret & PaulNagaosa, MakotoNashif, Gary & MarieNewton, LucilleNikeOdwalla JuicesOffice of International Education and Exchange (U of O)Oliver, George & MargieOn Deck Sports Bar & GrillOregon Community FoundationOregon Disability SportsOregon Trial Lawyers Assoc.Ortloff, Randall & PaulineOSU School of Health and Human PerformanceOuweleen, FrancisPacific Northwest PublishingParkhurst, KirkPeak Sports of CorvallisPearson, BernicePeissig, Linda BlairPeterson, Mary AnnPhilpott, ChrisPhoenix Inn, EugenePorter, Sue D.Prather, PattyPriest Victoria M.Prindville, ChrisPublic Relation Society of AmericaRainbow Optics, EugeneRamsing, Ken & MargaretREIReick, AlmaRetzlaff, DorothyRitter, TamiRoberts, BruceRoberts, Chris & PeteRoberts-Knapp, SheilaRosendahl, JeanRosendahl, Stuart & NancyRossetti, JillRossetti, Michael & DodyRun Pro EugeneRussell, Irma & MiltonRussell, Marjorie F.Sachse, TomSanchez, FlorenceSauer, Frank & BarbaraSea Explorer Ship 282Seltzer, JeffSenders, Dr. Will & GloriaSesser, JaneSeverson, Ron

ShakleeSnider, R. DryerShaw MedicalShearer, TimShirzadegan, MagidShively, Irene (On behalf of Kevin & Renee Shively)Shriners Hospital, PortlandSigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity, EugeneSign Pro, EugeneSiroshton, DaveSkinner, TeresaSmith, BarbaraSmith, John & DeniseSmith, LesSanchez, FlorenceSnyder, ChristianSnyder, Mike & SheriSoderquist, June C.Somers P.W.SportAid of GeorgiaSposato, TaiSprick, Randy & MarilynStamm, RandallSunrise Medical Inc.Tacoma South MotelTaronoff, Pete & IreneTaylor, Lyall & GregorannTeam XOThe Sailing CenterThe Villa FamilyTimberland Motor Inn, Castle RockTrans Ocean Products, Inc.Triton Yacht ClubUnderway LLCUnited Seating & MobilityUnited States Track & FieldUniversity of Oregon Athletic Dept.University of Oregon Book StoreU of O International Student Associa-tionUniversity of Oregon - JournalismUSA Track & FieldVanHemelryck FamilyVanrooy, Marilyn & KatieWagner, Charles & ElizabethWalker, BillWannarka, Andrea & ScottWatches by Gosh, EugeneWatson, Tery & AnneWerth, Trostel & EvangelineWest MarineWilberger, CarolynWilfred, JensenWilliams, FredWilliams, James L.Williamson, KellyWilson, BillWinand, RoseWisniewski, DaveWitherspoon, Frank & LynnWright, GordonWomen’s Sports FoundationYamana, A..J.Yarmonchik, SandraYoung, Dylan

If we have missed you here - please accept our sincere apologies and let us know. Your support is very important to us.

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.! ! ! ! Winston Churchill

[17]

WWS ParticipantsAbbott, MarniAbbott, ZacharyAchor, Brian & JasonAdams, AlvaAdams, ArdenAdams, JeffAdriano, JoseAmador, RonAnderson, RogerAndrews, KaseyAntonio, LouieAchenbach, LaverneBackstorm, CarlBaker, GaryBallou, DanielleBeauregard, ZacharyBecerra, CheriBell, RandyBeller, MatthewBlake, NancyBlanchette, CraigBowers, AleshaBriggs, JamesBruno, BenBullock, DanaBurroughs, EvanCable, CandaceCalicott, LindseyCallen, RobertCanaday, MingCardoza, AnthonyCaswell, BrandonChalmers, RyanChristianson, KelsieClark, JimCloud, ZachCloud, ZacharyClyburn, JordanColvin, NolaCooper, JeffCornell, BuceCorris, TerryCourtney, RobertCraig, LarryCrytzer, ChelseaCullmer, MikeDavis, ToddDawes, JacobDemaris, DannyDeWald, CarleighDriscoll, JeanDuff, BillEberspecher, WayneEllis, AdamEnglish, DrewEric, JamieErickson, KevinEriner, MelindaEttinger, EliFarmen, Matt

Fast, EricFiat-Starling, JuanFjersted, TomForan, TomFort, ChristinaFoster, SeanFowler, RenaFrederick, MargaretGilbert, JeremyGrant, JulieGrassi, DavidGrimes, SusiGuzman, ChadHall, BobHall, JaneHammett, JeremyHampton, EveHansen, MarkHardin, BradyHarnly, SueHartgrave, CoreyHartsell, StephenHatfield, DeanHayes, AliciaHays, AliciaHedrick, SharonHeilveil, JacobHelmkamp, RandiHendrix, AngieHiggins, AlyssaHollonbeck, ScotHolly, PatHoneyman, UshaHorton, KrystleHosea, KevinHoward, MattHoyt, MichaelHuckstep, JuleahHugi, D.Hunt, BobbyHunt, BriannaHunt, BriannaHuzienga, AdamIbarra, RafaelJaquis, IanJeter, CiscoJohnson, EricJones, WalterKallappa, KalebKellin, KelseyKelly, DanielKelly, JoanneKennedy, DougKenyon, BenKerr, GaryKovach, AlKreher, KenLarson, DavidLarson, TammyLaVar, JamesLee, DerrickLove, Horace

Luge, JeffMace, CodyMarkt, JessMartinson, JimMcCallister, KaceyMcClain, ColinMcClammer, ChelseaMcDermott, CaitlinMcGill, JerryMcLain, ColinMcVey, MikeMelton, KatieMerryman, JoshMfundishi, JemalMigiluri BenjiMiller, TracyMitchell, DeniseMitchell, JerryMoleda, CarlosMolinatti, BobMollars, DavidMoore, JillMorrow, BillMunn, CodyMuralt, JeffNehemiah, CameronNeilson, ChristineNietzel, EricNicklauson, MelissaNicholas, TheresaNicklauson, JoshNietzel, EricNiklason, JoshuaNoguiera, TonyOhama, KendraOpalski, KenOrr, KevinOsborne, DavidOwens, EmilyPalacois, DanielParks, SusanParkhust, KirkParmeter, KJParry, MattParsons, JennyPatterson, ScottPerpinen, MattPerry, MattPhilpott, ChrisPierce, BillPostell, MikePuffenburger, JohnRadke, LoriRedden, MariyaRenner, JeffRhonda, JarvisRichards, BernieRidge, ChristopherRoberts, JohnRoberts, SheilaRobin, WilliamRogers, Molly

Rose, BobRousseau, GabeRoy, TreySalazar, MikilaScaroni, SusannahSchmuki, AdamSeals, AdamSeelenfreund, EmilySellers, TomSesser, KanyaShea, BobShearer, TimSheldon, JennyShepard, PatSimmons, BobSims, JimSmithies, MarneySnow, RandySnyder, ChristianSnyder, NicoleSonnen, SidStolt, JasonStrahan, TylerSutton, KimSwoverland, JoshSylvan, CraigTaylor, ChrisTaylor, ChrisTodisco, JoeTorres, ArturoToyoji, StevenVandevender, SteveVan Hemelryck, JacobVogel, MartyVolpe, MichaelWaddell, ChrisWaters, GaryWatts, DavidWeaver, JeremyWeber, AmberlynWest, GabeWhitemarsh, CassieWidner, DanielWillard, KaitlynWilliams, FredWilson, BillWilson, RalphWinand, RoseWolfard, MelissaWoods, BrandonYoung, DylanZie, BrieZiegler, Casey

We know we have missed some names here - please ac-cept our sincere apologies. Some of our events are done in partnership with other agencies that handled registration of par-ticipants.

[18]

Above are most of the WWS Instructors, coaches & coordinators from 1995 to 2010. Top down, L-R: Carly Wilson; Doug Hagensen; Tami Rit-ter; Paul Horsell; Joy Davis Allen; John Mahan, M.D.; Lesli Fuller, N.D.; Matt Buck; Emmy Moran; John Campbell; Kayla Mellot Krempley; Tai Sposoto; Jessica Luciano, PT; John Britton; Andy Campbell; Kristin Hunt; Luke Lawrence; Laura Bocko; Nimbus Goodlet; Sara Kuppenbender; Brian McAndrew; Julie Vogel; Justin Melson; Arthur Long; Andrew Neill. Not picture Mickey Rosendahl, Brittany Sasser, Cody Colman, Thomas Patrick. The majority of our instructors, coaches and program coordinators work with WWS during their junior and senior years as interns at the University of Oregon. Go Ducks!

WORLD CLASS STAFF

[19] MANY THANKS TO OUR PRINT SPONSOR

Pacific

PacificNorthwestPublishing

What do 42 children cartwheeling on a stage dressed in psychedelic tie dye unitards; wheelchairs, tango and roller-skates; and men in tutus all have in common? Dance for a Reason of course! This annual dance

variety of talented dancers, choreographers and movement specialists in our area. It also

Geni Morrow is the founder, producer and leading force for DFAR. Over the past 17 years, Ms. Morrow has distributed over $60,000 to a widely diverse group of charities.

The 2011 Dance for a Reason DisAbled Sailors of Oregon. This therapeutic recreation program was founded in 1995 by Eugene-based World Wheelchair Sports (WWS). Realizing that many wheelchair users will never have the strength or motor skills to compete in elite Paralympic sports, the leadership of WWS looked to the waters of Lane County to provide a recreational outlet for chair users.

There is a bit of insanity in dancing that does everybody a great deal of good.

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Will you be our dance partner?

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Dedicated to improving the quality of life for people with physical disabilities by providing recreational ex-periences and competitive opportunities which em-power, embolden & em-phasis a world of unlim-ited possibilities!

Scholastic Track & Field Since 2002 WWS has coordinated all of the wheelchair events at Oregon School Activity Association track meets. WWS has developed an equipment loan pro-gram to supply wheelchair sports gear to any Oregon high school student who needs a wheelchair to participate on their high school track team. In 2008 we expanded the loan program to in-clude students at the University of Ore-gon who join the Adaptive Sports Club.

worldwheelchairsports.com - Over Twenty Years of Fitness on a Roll