Previous winners of the Courier-Journal Sports Award for Special Olympics include Jamil Danzy of Ballard High School and Hannah Ballard of Southern in 2016, Dallas Derringer of Southern and Catelynn Alpiger of Eastern High School in 2017, Aaron Coomes of Waggener High School and Caitlin Roy of Brown High School in 2018 and Lucas Mathes and Danyelle Tucker in 2019. We thank the Courier-Journal and its sports staff for recognize the work Special Olympics athletes do, both in our traditional program and in representing their schools and including them in these awards.
Boyer, Harrod Honored by Courier-Journal
Pair Earn Boys, Girls Special Olympics Athlete Awards at C-J Sports Awards
David Boyer of Bullitt East High School and Emme Harrod of Martha Layne Collins High School in Shelby County were honored by the Courier-Journal as the 2020 Special Olympics High School Athletes of the Year during the paper’s annual Courier-Journal Sports Awards presentation on Thursday, June 18. This is the fifth consecutive year that the Courier-Journal has included a Special Olympics category in the Awards program, which honors top athletes from throughout Kentuckiana. Boyer and Harrod are the first Special Olympics athletes from outside of Jefferson County to be honored. The Sports Awards are usually announced in an event at the Louisville Place; however, coronavirus concerns forced a virtual presentation this year.
Boyer is a junior at Bullitt East High School. He has been active in Special Olympics since he started playing softball 11 years ago when he was 8-years-old. He currently competes in softball, basketball, flag football, bowling and track and field. He is part of both the Louisville Flyers and Bullitt County Special Olympics programs.
In addition to his traditional Special Olympics competitions, David has also been active in Unified Sports and the Unified Champion Schools program at Bullitt East. Competing with the Bullitt East Unified track team, David placed second in the 2×200-meters and third in the 2×50-meters at the 2019 KHSAA State Track and Field Meet. As an athlete leader with the Unified Champion Schools club, David was part of a program that was recognized as a National Banner School by Special Olympics and by ESPN as a Top 5 program in the country. He has also served as the team manager for the Bullitt East basketball team.
Harrod’s competitive spirit has led her to participate in a wide variety of sports. She has been active with various Special Olympic teams in the Louisville area depending upon which sports were available. Emme has participated in cheerleading, basketball, soccer, track and field, swimming and bowling with Special Olympics. Her athleticism has won her several first place finishes in swimming at the state level. In addition to Special Olympics, Emme is also a member of the Unified Basketball team at Martha Layne Collins High School. This past fall she scored one of the two touchdowns for her class in the Jr./Sr. Powder Puff football game.