Charles schools' bocce teams place at state tournament

Four Charles County Public Schools teams participated in the Feb. 14 Special Olympic Maryland’s Interscholastic Unified Sports Indoor Bocce Tournament at Hagerstown Community College.

The state tournament welcomed teams from Charles, Allegheny, Baltimore, Frederick, Garrett, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties and Baltimore city. The tournament’s divisions are named for cities in Italy, the country where bocce was developed.

Team 5 of Maurice J. McDonough High School earned a bronze medal in the Naples division; a team made up of students at St. Charles and Westlake high schools placed fourth in the Florence division; McDonough’s Team 3 took fifth place in the Milan division; and Team 1 of La Plata High School earned a seventh-place spot in the Rome division.

Unified sports teams are made up of a combination of students of various abilities who train together and compete against other unified teams. The program promotes social inclusion through shared training and competition for people with and without intellectual disabilities. Bocce is one of three Unified sports CCPS students can participate in during the school year.

Other Unified offerings are tennis in the fall and track and field in the spring. The Polar Plunge, a fundraiser for Special Olympics Maryland, is also supported by students involved in the unified sports program.

Students on Team 5 at McDonough are Michael Brill, Malachi Faxon, Logan Gray, Daniel Howard, Nick Mudd, Sebastian Romero, Ethan Shettle and Aden Sweeney. Dave Bradshaw, a physical education teacher at McDonough, and Matt Petricoin, a vision teacher for CCPS, coach the team.

Members of the St. Charles and Westlake team are Xander Dickerson, Ishmael Gray, Myleine Kpoukap Nguikam, Amare Randolph, Peyton Vincent, Victoria White and Christian Young. The team is coached by Derwin Webb, a special education instructional assistant at Westlake, and Jennifer Heisey and Caroline Foster, both special education teachers at St. Charles.

McDonough’s Team 3 is made up of students Talyn Catena, Katie Good, Claire Good, Allyn Harris, Victoria Johnson, Zach McChesney, Landon Newsome and Dalilah Turnbull. Ryann Harris and Cynclair Wilson are alternates. Bradshaw and Petricoin coach McDonough’s Team 3.

La Plata’s Team 1 is comprised of students Aiden Drumm, Morgan Grove, Phillip Hawkins, Lily Hoffman, Taylor Houghton, Sophie Huntt, Chase Nelson and Katelyn Willett. The team is coached by William Boehm, a technology education teacher, and Stephanie Barry, a special education teacher.