Cherokee County Student Athletes Strike Gold at State Special Olympics; Unified Basketball Team Earns Spot at USA Games in Minnesota

Cherokee County School District student athletes returned home with gold medals across a sweep of sports at the 2026 State Summer Special Olympics, held at Emory University in Atlanta, and the district's Unified Basketball Team is now preparing for the biggest stage in domestic Special Olympics competition, the USA Games in Minnesota on June 19.

The results were remarkable in both depth and breadth. The Cherokee County Special Olympics soccer team captured a team gold medal, while individual athletes claimed gold in cheer, soccer skills, swimming, and track. Competitors ranged from elementary schoolers to high school students and recent graduates, drawn from schools across the county, a testament to how thoroughly the program has taken root throughout the district.

CCSD Adapted PE teacher Ben Farist coordinates the county's Special Olympics program, which spans athletes, unified partners, junior coaches, and volunteer coaches from more than a dozen schools. CCSD Police Officer Ken Locke also stepped into a coaching role for the soccer skills competition. The program operates under the Unified Sports model, a cornerstone of Special Olympics Georgia's mission, which places athletes with and without intellectual disabilities on the same teams, competing together rather than alongside each other.

On the soccer field, the Unified team gold was earned by Brandon Ashbey of River Ridge High School, Gia DiGregorio of Creekview High School, and Davis Kohl of Cherokee High School, competing alongside unified partners Nate Weatherby of Cherokee High School and Ryan Maher and Will Maher of Creekview High School. In individual events, Sammy Grugan of Transition Academy took gold in cheer, while Will Anderson of Cherokee High School and Hadley Stavropoulos of Little River Elementary School each earned gold in soccer skills.

The pool produced Cherokee County's largest single-sport gold medal haul of the games. Aiden Carr, Stephen Eifert, Sean Ela, and Colton Wagener won gold in the 4x100 Traditional Relay; William Steffes and Nicolle Valle claimed gold in the 4x100 Unified Relay. Aiden Kohlhepp and Luke Spiker topped the podium in the 25M Backstroke, while William Steffes, Colton Wagener, and Aniya Lott each earned gold in freestyle events. Noah Gravitt, Ryan Holmes, Mason Motes, and Sahasra Rajesh won gold in assisted and floatation events, and Madison Wyas of Cherokee High School claimed gold in the 15M Unassisted event.

Away from the water, Leo Johnson of Teasley Middle School earned gold in tennis skills. Sam Bucher of Tippens Early Childhood took gold in the Turbo Javelin. And Mason Peddycoart of Hickory Flat Elementary swept the sprint events, winning gold in both the 100M and 200M.

Now the county's attention turns to Minnesota. The Unified Basketball Team, Leah Weatherby of Cherokee High School, Mairin Crossman of River Ridge High School, Tylor Armstrong and Mikey Moreno of Sequoyah High School, and recent Creekview High School graduate Charlie Holderness, earned their national berth by winning gold at the 2026 State Indoor Winter Games earlier this year. Unified partners making the trip include Wyatt Head and Nate Weatherby of Cherokee High School, Cris Holderness of Creekview High School, and Riley Buck of Sequoyah High School.

The USA Games, held every four years, bring together thousands of Special Olympics athletes from across the country for a week of competition. For Cherokee County, it represents the program's highest level of national competition to date, and for the athletes, coaches, and families who have built this program school by school across the county, it is a moment worth celebrating long before the opening tip.