Local Special Olympic athlete, Austin McLaren, will soon be off to Santiago, Chile with Team Ontario.
McLaren, who is part of the Equipment Management team for the Senior Men’s Hockey team the Winterhawks of Saugeen Shores, qualified in the 400 metre and relay runs held in Kincardine at the Davidson Centre.
He will be competing in the Special Olympics North American Regional Invitational Games and is the only one outside of the GTA region to qualify and has only been with Special Olympics for two years.
“It was the first time I ever ran the 400 metres,” said McLaren, “usually I just run in the 100 metres. I couldn’t believe it when I got the phone call saying I had qualified! I ran the 400 metres in 1:25.”
The Winterhawks will have their season opener on Friday, October 2nd, at the PLEX in Port Elgin and Special Olympics will also be holding a fundraiser there for McLaren, who has to raise his own airfare and any personal spending money.
