National Champion Osborn Brings Home the Hardware

Sault High Senior Johnny Osborn represented his community well, bringing home the title in three of the five events he competed in at the Hartford Nationals in Hoover, Alabama. The largest and longest-standing national sport championship event for athletes with a physical, visual and/or intellectual disability had its 67th year of competition earlier this month. Osborn was one of more than 400 athletes that qualified for the competition. The last of his adaptive track and field competitions this summer, Osborn made it count and medaled in each of his events. He was runner up in the 100m with a time of 24.43, but was the champion in the 200m race with a time of 43.10. Osborn also won the 400m race, finishing in 1:28.06. For the first time, Osborn was able to compete in a relay event, the 4×100. “I didn’t know I was going to do a relay. My Coach Amy from GLASA (my summer team) asked if a couple of wheelchair athletes wanted to do a relay and we said yes. We got to practice in groups of two for a half hour, but that was it! It was also the whole teams first relay!” The newly formed relay team was runner up with a time of 1:26.37. Lastly, Osborn won the championship in his field event, the shot put, with a throw of 5.65 meters.

Noting the food, people and atmosphere as some of the highlights of this competition, Osborn benefited greatly from this opportunity. He will continue to train even though his summer competition season is over. “I learned a lot on the National level and will be training with Coach Amy over the off-season to be better prepared for the upcoming Track season.”

Johnny’s mom, Andrea, reflected on their experience and time in Alabama. “I’m honored to have been able to attend with Johnny. It was an amazing experience. I’m so proud of his determination. He worked hard all HS track & field season and was excited to try the next level of adaptive sports. It took us both by surprise that he qualified for The Nationals during his first Move United sanctioned event (GLASA in Illinois mid-June). Johnny had the opportunity to meet other athletes with his T34 & F34 classifications. Competing with others who have the same diagnosis and/or similar physical ability makes competition equitable for athletes. Johnny got to really see how well he was doing for his classifications.

The Nationals will be hosted in Grand Rapids, MI the next two years. Johnny’s goal is to qualify and he looks forward to competing so close to home. Johnny hopes locals can come experience the atmosphere and support the athletes.”

Osborn will be switching gears slightly, as his final high school cross country season will be starting in the next few weeks. For more information on adaptive sports, visit glasa.org and moveunitedsport.org.

Photo credit: Andrea Osborn