LIGHTING THE WAY POLICE HELP OLYMPIANS FEEL SPECIAL.Byline: Amy Raisin Staff Writer SANTA CLARITA Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, - With a twist on the police escort, local law enforcement officers followed on motorcycles, on foot and even in a SWAT vehicle as a number of Special Olympics Special Olympics International sports program for people with intellectual disability. It provides year-round training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type summer and winter sports for participants. athletes ushered the Olympic torch through city streets. Local FBI agents, sheriff's deputies and California Highway Patrol highway patrol n. A state law enforcement organization whose police officers patrol the public highways. officers helped celebrate this weekend's 2001 Special Olympics Summer Games This article is about the Epyx video game series. For the international multi-sport event, see Summer Olympic Games. Summer Games is a sports video game developed by Epyx and released by U.S. Gold based on sports featured in the Summer Olympic Games. in Long Beach, where about 60 Santa Clarita athletes will compete. ``It's really cool. You have people there to cheer you on and there's a lot of support,'' said Kristi Vogt, 29, who ran a leg of the torch relay and will compete in four swimming events. In addition to touring Santa Clarita, the torches will have covered more than 1,500 miles in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, when the flame is lit Friday morning at California State University Enrollment  , Long Beach.
Sheriff's Deputy Artie Thompson has participated in the torch relay before and he admitted the event is special for the athletes and the law enforcement officers. ``You just see a big smile on their faces,'' he said of the athletes who run with the torch. ``And I think the deputies get a kick out of doing this with them.'' Vikki Medrano, a Santa Clarita-based FBI special agent, said she loves lacing up her running shoes for the yearly relay. ``I live up here and my brother was a Special Olympics athlete. It's really community oriented here and it's exciting for the athletes to go with law enforcement and ride in the peacekeeper,'' Medrano said of the Special Weapons and Tactics vehicle nearby. Local athletes will compete in swimming, basketball, softball and track and field events from Friday through Sunday. And the women's basketball Women's basketball is one of the few games which developed in tandem with men's. It became popular, spreading from the east coast of the United States to the west coast, in large part via women's colleges. team will try to bring the championship home to Santa Clarita for the third consecutive year. CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- 2 -- color) Above, Special Olympian Larry Heath Jr. of Valencia brings the Special Olympics torch to Santa Clarita. At top, the athletes' motto sets the tone for the weekend event in Long Beach. David R. Crane/Staff Photographer |
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