Around 200 students compete at the Stanly County Special Olympics

Published 8:50 am Wednesday, May 8, 2019

Around 200 students participated in the Stanly County Special Olympics at the Albemarle High School football stadium Friday morning.

One of the standout athletes was Milli’on Colson, a junior at South Stanly High School.

He competed in the 100-meter run, 200-meter run and the long jump. Colson won two first-place ribbons.

“He runs track like nobody’s business,” said Sharon Crompton, a South Stanly teacher assistant who has taught Colson for three years.

He has participated in Special Olympics since the fifth grade. His favorite activities are relays and the shot put.

Colson enjoys that “a whole lot of people are out here supporting me.”

Colson and a few other students in the county competed in the 4 x 100 meter relay at the Penn Relays a few weeks ago in Philadelphia.

“He has a Hollywood smile,” Crompton added. “He’s also very humble.”

Colson, 17, wants to be a basketball coach. He can name every major college basketball and coach in the country. He also plays the sport.

His favorite college basketball team is UNC, coached by Roy Williams.

Colson said his favorite part about playing basketball is “passing the ball.”

Braylin Furlow, a fourth grader at Stanfield Elementary School, just started playing basketball and participating in track and field.

Braylin Furlow, a fourth grader at Stanfield Elementary, with her mother Kendra Furrow during the Special Olympics. (Photo by Chris Miller/staff)

She was at Special Olympics with her mother, Kendra Furlow.

Furlow competed in the 25-meter run, 50-meter run and the softball throw. She received a second-place ribbon for the 25-meter run.

Furlow enjoys the running competitions the most.

She has been coming to the Special Olympics since she was in Pre-K.

There were around 400 people in attendance at the Special Olympics, said Kim Loflin, Special Olympics co-coordinator and also a coach.

“We (coaches) have seen how Special Olympics has changed their lives, giving them confidence and a sense of pride,” Loflin said. “It’s equally important to them to be on a team and succeed. We think we’re training them, but they train us…in what really matters in life.”

About Chris Miller

Chris Miller has been with the SNAP since January 2019. He is a graduate of NC State and received his Master's in Journalism from the University of Maryland. He previously wrote for the Capital News Service in Annapolis, where many of his stories on immigration and culture were published in national papers via the AP wire.

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