The Bowling Green Toppers flag football team has been selected to represent the state as Team Kentucky at the 2018 USA Games. The Toppers won the gold medal in their division of the 2016 State Flag Football Tournament last November.
Coaches
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Head Coach Holly Vincent, of Bowling Green, has been a Special Olympics coach for two years and has coached flag football at various levels for three years. As the Special Populations Director for Bowling Green Parks and Recreation, Vincent heads up the Special Olympics program for the city. She also coaches softball, basketball, bowling and track. This will be her first time coaching at the USA or World Games level.
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Assistant Coach Michael Justice, of Bowling Green, is in his third year coaching Special Olympics athletes. He has coached flag football for three seasons in addition to basketball, bowling, softball and track and field.
Justice works for Bowling Green Parks and Recreation.. |
Athletes
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Killian Day, of Bowling Green, is among the youngest Team Kentucky athletes in 2018 at 18-years-old. Day has been a Special Olympics athlete for nine years and has been playing flag football for two of them. He also competes in bowling, track and field, basketball and softball. This is also his first trip to a USA Games. |
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Sammy Fetz, Jr., of Russellville, has been a Special Olympics athlete since 2013, and has competed in flag football since first joining the program. Fetz, 31, also competes in basketball and softball. |
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Brandon Johnson, of Rockfield, has competed in Special Olympics for 30 years, playing flag football for the last two. Johnson, 48, also competes in basketball, softball and track and field. He is making his first trip to the USA Games. |
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Evans Johnson Jr., of Bowling Green, is a seasoned Special Olympics veteran, having competed for 30 years in numerous sports. Johnson, 51, has played football for 20 years and Special Olympics flag football for six. He also competes in basketball, softball and track and field, and had competed in powerlifting. Johnson was part of a softball team made up primarily of athletes from the Bowling Green area that claimed the silver medal at the 1999 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill, N.C.
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James Jordan, of Smiths Grove, has been a Special Olympics athlete for four years and has played flag football for two. He will be competing at his first USA Games. Jordan, 27, also competes in basketball, softball and track and field.
He works for the City of Bowling Green. |
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Willy Kirby, of Bowling Green, is another of the team’s longtime Special Olympics veterans, having competed in the program for 25 years. He has played flag football for 10. Kirby, 50, also played on the 1999 World Games softball team that won the silver medal in North Carolina. In addition to flag football, Kirby competes in basketball, softball, bowling and track and field. He also competed in powerlifting when the sport was offered.
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Randy Lennon, of Russellville, has been a Special Olympics athlete for 11 years, competing in flag football for five. A graduate of Kentucky School for the Deaf, Lennon, 37, also competes in track and field, basketball and softball. This is also his first trip to a USA Games. |
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Dave Plested, of Bowling Green, is the final member of the team who was part of the 1999 World Games experience. He has been a Special Olympics athlete for 20 years and has competed in flag football for six. Plested, 46, also competes in softball, bowling, basketball and track and field. He was a powerlifter when that sport was offered and also tried alpine skiing. |
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David Sexton, of Bowling Green, returns to the team after missing the 2016 season. He has been a Special Olympics athlete for 16 years and competed in flag football for six. Sexton, 43, also competes in basketball, softball, bowling and track and field. |
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Tony Thomas, of Bowling Green, is a nine-year veteran of Special Olympics competition and has played flag football for five of them. In addition to flag football, Thomas, 28, has competed in basketball, track and field, softball and alpine skiing.
He works at Sonic. |
Meet Team Kentucky