Close Menu
The Baylor Lariat
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube LinkedIn
    Trending
    • Students react to emergency alert following campus lockdown
    • Baylor shelter-in-place lifted following police pursuit of robbery suspects
    • Baylor graduate charged after killing cats with pellet gun, hanging bodies over utility lines
    • Baylor Football’s Alex Foster dies at 18
    • Board of Regents confirms budget, renovations, new leadership in May meeting
    • How facilities responds to storms, flooding in campus buildings
    • Welcome Week leaders now paid in hopes of increasing numbers
    • 5 Baylor sports storylines to look forward to in 2025-26
    • About us
      • Spring 2025 Staff Page
      • Copyright Information
    • Contact
      • Contact Information
      • Letters to the Editor
      • Subscribe to The Morning Buzz
      • Department of Student Media
    • Employment
    • PDF Archives
    • RSS Feeds
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube LinkedIn
    The Baylor LariatThe Baylor Lariat
    Subscribe to the Morning Buzz
    Tuesday, July 1
    • News
      • State and National News
        • State
        • National
      • Politics
        • 2025 Inauguration Page
        • Election Page
      • Homecoming Page
      • Baylor News
      • Waco Updates
      • Campus and Waco Crime
    • Arts & Life
      • Wedding Edition 2025
      • What to Do in Waco
      • Campus Culture
      • Indy and Belle
      • Sing 2025
      • Leisure and Travel
        • Leisure
        • Travel
          • Baylor in Ireland
      • Student Spotlight
      • Local Scene
        • Small Businesses
        • Social Media
      • Arts and Entertainment
        • Art
        • Fashion
        • Food
        • Literature
        • Music
        • Film and Television
    • Opinion
      • Editorials
      • Points of View
      • Lariat Letters
    • Sports
      • March Madness 2025
      • Football
      • Basketball
        • Men’s Basketball
        • Women’s Basketball
      • Soccer
      • Baseball
      • Softball
      • Volleyball
      • Equestrian
      • Cross Country and Track & Field
      • Acrobatics & Tumbling
      • Tennis
      • Golf
      • Pro Sports
      • Sports Takes
      • Club Sports
    • Lariat TV News
    • Multimedia
      • Video Features
      • Podcasts
        • Don’t Feed the Bears
      • Slideshows
    • Advertising
    The Baylor Lariat
    Home»News»Baylor News

    Students support Special Olympics basketball teams in Russell Gym

    webmasterBy webmasterFebruary 19, 2013Updated:February 20, 2013 Baylor News No Comments3 Mins Read
    Waco resident Ronnie Buskner participates in Special Olympics basketball on Saturday morning, Feb. 16, 2013, in Russell Gymnasium. Matt Hellman | Lariat Photo Editor
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email
    Waco resident Ronnie Buskner participates in Special Olympics basketball on Saturday morning, Feb. 16, 2013, in Russell Gymnasium. Matt Hellman | Lariat Photo Editor
    Waco resident Ronnie Buskner participates in Special Olympics basketball on Saturday morning, Feb. 16, 2013, in Russell Gymnasium.
    Matt Hellman | Lariat Photo Editor

    By Larissa Campos
    Reporter

    Baylor students lined the walls of Russell Gym and cheered on six Special Olympics teams walking in behind their team’s banner.

    To kick off the Area 12 Special Olympics basketball tournament at Baylor this weekend, the teams made a lap around the gym and enjoyed the cheers and applause from their fans before competition began.

    “The opening ceremony was so cool to watch,” said Colleyville junior Kat Ludlow. “They made it kind of like the Olympics and had a torch that was passed from one team to another. It was a special moment for the athletes.”

    Baylor has a Special Olympics volunteer group that puts on several events in conjunction with Area 12-Heart of Texas Special Olympics every year.

    The tournament was a two-day event starting on Friday afternoon and finishing on Saturday. Dr. Margaret Wooddy, professor of health, human performance and recreation and director of human performance, was in charge of the event. With the help of student volunteers, she was able to give the athletes a weekend of competitive basketball and the chance to interact with other Special Olympic athletes from the Waco area.

    Wooddy stressed how important having volunteers is. She said without people volunteering to come and help out, the event wouldn’t have even been possible. She was very thankful for the students that took time out of their busy schedules to come out and make the weekend special.

    The Baylor volunteers were in charge of a variety of jobs throughout the weekend. Some helped set up and clean up the gyms before and after the event. Some worked the score tables during the games. But most of the volunteers were assigned to be fans of the teams and sit on their benches during games.

    Naperville, Ill., junior Taylor Heatherly got the opportunity to spend the day with a team from Corsicana. She said that what she enjoyed most was the passion and joy that each of the athletes had throughout the tournament.

    “This team was down the whole game and kept battling back,” Heatherly said. “In the end, one of the players hit a 3-point shot to win the game and the team had a huge celebration. It was so awesome to see them rally together and achieve something like they did.”

    Heatherly said she was also touched by the selflessness of the athletes.

    “At the end of that big game the team decided to take a picture,” Heatherly said. “One of the players said, ‘This win is for my brother. He would be here but he’s in the hospital.’ Another player said, ‘It’s like God wanted us to win.’”

    Heatherly said it was worth her time to volunteer and she felt like she gained a lot from the experience. She said she was thankful for the opportunity to spend her day surrounded by such kind-hearted and spirited personalities and encouraged anyone who has the chance to volunteer at a Special Olympic event.

    The weekend prior to the tournament, 16 group members participated in Waco’s third-annual Polar Plunge to raise money for the Special Olympics. All of the money raised will be used to fund sports training and competitions for the 1,050 Special Olympic athletes in the Waco area.

    The group also held a bake sale Monday on campus to help raise funds for the Heart of Texas Chargers, one of the teams that participated in the basketball tournament.

    Russell Gymnasium Special Olympics
    webmaster

    Keep Reading

    Students react to emergency alert following campus lockdown

    Baylor shelter-in-place lifted following police pursuit of robbery suspects

    Baylor graduate charged after killing cats with pellet gun, hanging bodies over utility lines

    Baylor Football’s Alex Foster dies at 18

    Board of Regents confirms budget, renovations, new leadership in May meeting

    How facilities responds to storms, flooding in campus buildings

    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Recent Posts
    • Students react to emergency alert following campus lockdown June 27, 2025
    • Baylor shelter-in-place lifted following police pursuit of robbery suspects June 26, 2025
    About

    The award-winning student newspaper of Baylor University since 1900.

    Articles, photos, and other works by staff of The Baylor Lariat are Copyright © Baylor® University. All rights reserved.

    Subscribe to the Morning Buzz

    Get the latest Lariat News by just Clicking Subscribe!

    Follow the Live Coverage
    Tweets by @bulariat

    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube LinkedIn
    • Featured
    • News
    • Sports
    • Opinion
    • Arts and Life
    © 2025 ThemeSphere. Designed by ThemeSphere.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.