Today at the USA Games – July 6
All Four Kentucky Athletes Medal on Final Day of USA Games
Four Kentucky athletes were in action today on the last day of the 2018 Special Olympics USA Games and they closed the events out with a bang. All four – one at the track and three in the pool – finished the Games with a medal around their neck and a personal best on the clock.
The best race of the day came at the pool where teammates and friends Justin Hale of Louisville and Hunter Eudy of Indepenence were matched in the same heat for the second time this week. The race came down to a thrilling finish with Hale taking the silver medal in a time of :43.57. Eudy finished in :44.48 and needed every hundredth of a second as he narrowly out-touched fourth place finisher Stephen Espinoza of Southern California by just .03 seconds. The silver medal completed a set for Hale, who won gold in the 100-meter freestyle and bronze with the team in the 4×50-meter medley relay. The bronze was the first individual medal for Eudy, who was also part of the relay team and finishes with two bronze medals and a pair of fifth-place finishes.
Drew Janoski of Lexington also won bronze in his heat of the 50meter backstroke. He got home in 2:08.25, about 3.5 seconds behind silver medalist Benjamin Sandoval of Colorado.
Kate Nason of Louisville was last Kentucky athlete to compete on the track, running the 1,500 meters today. Nason finished in 9:03.45, behind gold medalist Chelsea Willis of Arkanas. It was the second silver medal for Nason, who also took second in the 3,000 meters earlier this week.
Team Kentucky concludes the Games with 51 total medals, including 19 golds.
See Photos from Today’s Action
Tomorrow at the USA Games
Team Kentucky returns from the USA Games tomorrow. Kentucky will return on two separate flights. The basketball, bocce, golf, track and field and Unified Champion Schools delegations will return to Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport at 8:30 pm. The bowling, flag football, gymnastics and swimming delegations return to Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport at 11:52 pm.