October 6, 2007

Saturday's competition went GREAT for SOTX athletes... with strong performances that brought in eight medals (four gold, one silver and three bronze):

Ashley Billard: GOLD - Aquatics 100M Freestyle

Christopher Hines: GOLD - Cycling 10K Time Trial

Hillary Kern: BRONZE - Bocce Singles

Texas Nelson: GOLD - Aquatics 100M Freestyle and SILVER - 100M Backstroke

Angela Simmons: BRONZE - Equestrian Working Trails

James Taylor: FOURTH PLACE- Equestrian Working Trails

Adam Vasquez: BRONZE - Bocce Singles

Christine Victory: GOLD - Cycling 5K Time Trial

We spent the morning at Shanghai Stadium watching the athletics preliminaries.  We were thrilled to see both Mark Cannon of Ponder and Jacqui Smith of Missouri City compete.  Mark "flew" past the other runners, finishing first in his heat in the 100M run prelim.  Upon finishing the race, both athletes were able to stop for photos and to visit for a few minutes (check out the photos on the October 6 Photo page).

It was amazing to watch our athletes, as well as others from around the world, compete in such a grand stadium.  The stands were full of spectators to cheer them on.  We realized that some athletes who ran did not wear shoes, which was striking to us.  It was also interesting to see so many different uniforms and how they varied.

The next few days will be very busy, with competition really heating up.  Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday the schedule is already packed - so be sure to check back those days for photos, updates and the medal count!