UI wheelchair track program will be well represented in Beijing

By Marcus Jackson

Sunday July 6, 2008

CHAMPAIGN – When most Illinois fans think about the Olympic Games in Beijing, basketball player Deron Williams and gymnast Justin Spring are names that immediately pop into their heads.

But there is another group of Illinois athletes poised to make a splash in the Far East later this summer.
 
The Illinois wheelchair racing team is one of the elite programs in the country, and five Illini will travel to Beijing to represent the United States in the Paralympics in September.
 
"We've got a real good group here and they're among the best in the world," said UI coach Adam Bleakney, who also will compete in the Beijing Paralympics.

"They're not the athletes who are just on the team to be there. They're going there to win medals. I'd say it's the most talented group we've had here in 15 to 20 years."

Joshua George is considered the top American in wheelchair racing and won four gold medals at the 2006 world championships.

Jessica Galli currently holds three world records (200, 400, 800) and was named the 2007 Paralympian of the Year.

Anjali Forber-Pratt won golds in the 100 and 200 at the ParaPan American Games in Brazil, and Amanda McGrory is the world record-holder in the 5,000.

Of the 10 world records that were set in 2007, the group of Illinois athletes set six of them.

Illinois takes its wheelchair athletics program seriously, partly because it's the pioneer program as far as adapted athletics go.

In 1948, Timothy Nugent started the program at the UI when he saw men who were once physically active return to the U.S. following World War II with debilitating injuries.

He wanted those men to have an outlet to become active once again.
"Dr. Nugent just wanted them to be able to get active again and give them some different opportunities," said George, who will compete in six events at the Paralympics.

George, a Virginia native, was recruited to Illinois to play basketball and has excelled on the court as well as on the track for the Illini. It's not uncommon for athletes to be recruited to compete for the Illini wheelchair athletics teams.
 
"Recruiting, it's getting more intense on the basketball side of things," George said. "Between 10 and 12 schools have basketball programs, so recruiting on the basketball side is pretty good."

In track and field, Illinois and Arizona are the only collegiate programs, but Bleakney will search the country recruiting athletes to join the Illinois program.

"Adam goes out and recruits kids he feels will fit in well with the group that we have," George said.
A lot of the credit for the success the Illinois program has achieved can be traced back to Marty Morris. Morris, the former Illinois coach, has been credited with implementing new techniques for pushing and maximizing the speed of a wheelchair.
 
"Marty Morris defined the excellence of the track program almost to a higher level," Bleakney said. "My job now is to maintain and do what he did to match what he did. For so many years he had so many successful athletes and was such a great asset to the sport. He is a great mentor to me."
 
Because of its commitment to adapted athletics and the success the program has had, disabled students actively seek to attend Illinois to become a part of the tradition.

"Marty was an amazing coach and Adam is an amazing coach," George said. "On the basketball side, Mike Frogley is one of the best coaches in the world. That's why people want to come here, to get that hands-on training from the best."
 
Being looked upon as the best is not a responsibility the coaches and athletes at Illinois take lightly.
 
"We're the first and we set the path," Bleakney said. "Once that momentum was created, it attracted the best people. Not just athletes, but coaches, administrators, and the bar was set for high level of excellence.

"We're constantly reminded of where we come from and the expectations of what the University of Illinois wheelchair sports means. We just do our best."

It's an honor for the coaches and athletes to represent their university on the playing field. It's another to compete for their country on the Olympic stage.

"It's always an honor. I know I enjoy it," Bleakney said. "We do a lot of trips where we represent the United States. What's really neat about the experience is the differences aren't defined by countries.

There's a camaraderie between countries and it's just so much fun to be a part of.