Sign up for the meadowlakeNOW newsletter

M.L. bowlers win gold medals at Special Olympics nationals

May 24, 2018 | 5:00 PM

Two Meadow Lakers brought home some unique souvenirs from their recent trip to Prince Edward Island: Gold medals from the 2018 Special Olympics Canada Bowling Championships.

Renee Scherr and Gavin Oseemeemow took part in the national event in Tyne Valley and Charlottetown, P.E.I., May 14 to 20, and each of them won gold for both singles and team bowling.

Scherr said she was eager to attend for a number of months since she succeeded at the Saskatchewan provincials earlier this year. She said her experience was phenomenal.

“I loved every minute of it,” Scherr said. “All three teams from Saskatchewan were in the playoffs. We were jumping up and down for joy and hugging each other.”

Most of her Saskatchewan teammates were from Regina and one other from Saskatoon. In the final best-of-three round against Team Ontario, the team of five tied the first game, lost the second game, but pulled ahead the third game to win with an overall score of 28-23 to take gold.

On the singles side, Scherr said a lot of her games were over her average, which is typically a score of 132.

“One of my games was really, really good, with three strikes in a row, and ended up with a 202,” Scherr said with a smile. “When I was called up I did not know they announced bronze and silver, then I thought ‘I can’t see myself getting gold’ but I did. My coach knew but kept it a secret from me.”

Scherr is a teacher’s assistant at École Lakeview Elementary School, mostly working with children from kindergarten to Grade 2. She said her colleagues, students, family members and community have been very supportive of her all along this year. Meadow Lanes also allowed her to practice a couple days a week.

She has been bowling for over 17 years and said she loves the sport because she gets to meet people, make friends and have a good time. She said she was excited to represent Meadow Lake but also the province.

“It was actually really exciting,” Scherr said. “It was actually quite an honour to be chosen for Team Saskatchewan.”

She said she was also proud of Oseemeemow whom she travelled with to the event.
 

kathy.gallant@jpbg.ca

On Twitter @ReporterKath