Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org
Surnames: Heck, Jennings, Wilke, Glaze, Magnuson, Lapacynski
----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 6/18/2014
Desi Heck Competes At Special Olympics USA Games (Bowling - 2014)
Desi Heck Competes At Special Olympics USA Games
Desi Heck shows her bowling form at Strike Time Lanes in Neillsville. She has been working with coach Wanda Jennings to polish her game for the 2014 Special Olympics USA competition. Heck sports a 135 average. Her best game so far is 198. (Todd Schmidt/Clark County Press)
By Todd Schmidt
Desi Heck, 22, of Neillsville departed early Friday morning for the 2014 Special Olympics USA Games in Princeton, NJ.
Heck will be participating with Special Olympics Wisconsin (SOWI) in the singles, doubles and team bowling competition. She was one of 62 athletes chosen to represent Team Wisconsin in the June 14-21 games that include bowling, athletics, aquatics, bocce, flag football, gymnastics, powerlifting and volleyball.
The 2014 USA Games will showcase the abilities of athletes with intellectual disabilities, promote the ideals of acceptance and inclusion through sport and celebrate the transformative power of Special Olympics. A total of 3,500 athletes, 1,000 coaches and delegates, 10,000 volunteers and 70,000 spectators will attend.
Sports competition will be held at venues throughout Mercer County, New Jersey, including Princeton University, The College of New Jersey, Mercer County Park and several area private schools.
This is Heck’s first trip to the USA Games. She is part of a 90-delegate group from Wisconsin that received a grand sendoff Friday at the Dane County Regional Airport in Madison.
Heck is a 2010 graduate of Neillsville High School. She has been involved with SOWI for eight years, participating in bowling, athletics, alpine skiing, cross country skiing and snowshoeing.
“Special Olympics has given me the chance to learn and compete in different sports,” Heck said. “It has also given me the chance to travel and make new friends.”
Coaches Wanda and Ken Jennings, Jay and Penny Wilke and Dean Glaze have spent many hours working with Heck and other Neillsville Special Olympics athletes. Heck recently participated in SOWI state track and field competition at Stevens Point, taking second place in the shot put and competing on the 4x100m relay team.
When she’s not busy training for SOWI, Heck works at the Neillsville Subway and volunteers for events at Zion Lutheran Church-Pine Valley. She has also been an active member of the Neillsville FFA Chapter, showing calves at the Clark County Fair, helping with roadside cleanup and helping with various dairy breakfasts.
Heck was the top FFA fruit salesperson for a number of years. She recently earned her State Future Farmers of America Degree.
At age 15, Heck started working at Subway. She currently works 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. shifts four days per week. Her duties include cleaning, dishwashing, clearing tables and basic sandwich preparation at the counter.
If they need somebody in a pinch, Subway staff usually calls Heck. She generally takes the taxi to and from work.
Heck rents a farmhouse from her grandmother and guardian Sharon Magnuson. She does her own laundry and helps with lawn trimming. Housework is not a problem.
“Desi’s house is always neat as a pin,” Jennings observed.
Heck has an iPad. She is unable to read, but benefits from an email program that reads emails to her and sends correspondence she dictates.
Heck and Wanda Jennings took time out during a June 11 practice session at Strike Time Lanes in Neillsville to discuss Special Olympics and the upcoming USA Games.
Jennings said Heck was nominated for Team USA after finishing second in her division in the 2012 and 2013 state games. Criteria for successful applicants include ability to accept instruction, good sportsmanship, good attitude, ability to care for themselves and punctuality.
“Desi is dedicated, and she is a hard worker,” Jennings said. “She is well behaved, and she always steps forward and helps with other students. She is always on time. She will call me and remind me that it is time to bowl.
“Desi is a good listener and she makes an effort to learn from the tips the coaches give her. She is very loyal and is just a good friend for anyone to have.”
Heck sports a bowling average of 138, with a high game of 198. She always competes in the top division, usually against boys because her average is too high.
After being selected for the Special Olympics USA team, Team Wisconsin bowlers were encouraged to practice on their own as much as they could. They met as a group in the Wausau area, and in May the total team bowled in Oshkosh.
She will have an edge in the bowling competition in the form of a new 14.5-pound Tropical Breeze bowling ball that arrived Wednesday. Strike Time Lanes Owner Eric Lapacynski arranged the purple, gold and cherry beauty.
“It is an awesome ball,” Heck said. “I love it. It is weighted a little and I think it comes into the pocket a bit better.”
She said she was a little nervous about flying. The team flight was scheduled to make stops in Detroit and Philadelphia before arriving in New Jersey.
Each athlete was required to raise a minimum of $500 to offset the costs of the trip. Heck raised over $1,200 through the sale of t-shirts, bracelets and gold icons. The Neillsville Bowling Association and Subway kicked in $100 each. Heck’s grandparents also helped out.
While in New Jersey, SOWI athletes will take a dinner cruise around the statue of liberty and attend a Yankees baseball game.
Special time will be allotted for basic physical examinations, including hearing and eye tests free of charge. A volunteer doctor travels with the team.
Heck said the trip to Special Olympics USA is a dream come true.
“I love to bowl, and I try to get better each time,” Heck said. “My goal is to beat Wanda and ken. My teachers and helpers have all worked hard to make me the person I am today. My family has also helped me 100 percent.
“I have good days and bad days, but I won’t let the bad days get me down. I will do my best in bowling to represent Special Olympics Wisconsin. I am proud to be a part of it. I just hope I can bring a medal home.”
Desi heck displays her new 14.5-pound Tropical Breeze, purple, gold and cherry color bowling ball she received June 11. Heck bowled a number of practice games with the new weighted ball at Strike Time Lanes to prepare for the 2014 Special Olympic USA Games in Princeton, NJ, that run June 14-21. Todd Schmidt/Clark County Press
