Chase Caron just missed the medal podium at the Special Olympics Winter National Games three months ago in snowshoeing, but his talents as a track star were virtually unknown.
The secret is out now.
The 23-year-old from Prince George won three of his five track and field events at a regional team qualifying event last weekend in Langley and locked up second-place finishes in the other two at the event, which drew 350 athletes.
Caron won the 200-metre and 400m events and the standing long jump and was second in the 100m and shot put.
"Chase did amazingly well," said Prince George Special Olympics coach Wilma VanHage. "He's fairly new - I think this is his third year in Special Olympics. He's quite competitive and that surprised me when we went down there. He really wanted to win. You put a start gun on him and he goes."
Caron also competes in soccer and golf. In March, he stepped into his snowshoes in Corner Brook, Nfld., and raced to a fourth-place national finish in the 200m event and was fifth in the 100m sprint.
One other Prince George Special Olympian, Marinka VanHage, 25, competed in Langley and she brought home two second-place ribbons, finishing second in the 100m and standing long jump events. VanHage was fourth in the 800m race and placed sixth in shot put and the 400m run.
"They went down there just to learn and feel it out and they were both really pleased with how it went," said Wilma VanHage.
Results from Langley will determine the Region 8 track and field team for the Special Olympics Provincial Games, to be held next summer at a site yet to be determined. The regional team will be announced in July.
Coach VanHage said this is the first time in 15 years any Prince George Special Olympian has competed in the regional track and field qualifying event.
"We couldn't find coaches the last few years so it sort of faltered but this year we have a new head coach (Sandy Galleti) and some volunteers and it got going, so we thought we would get some athletes down and maybe we'll get more athletes involved next year," VanHage said.
"We have 10 athletes coming to track right now but only two were able to travel. Hopefully it will build up now."
The group trains Wednesday and Friday evenings at Masich Pace Stadium.
Caron and VanHage are among a group of seven Special Olympians involved in a pilot project - Fit Family and Friends - taken on by local organizers. On Wednesdays, athletes and their family members will gather at the base of University Drive to run or walk up the hill. The athletes will be weighed several times during the summer and their activities will be charted. They'll also be given tips to promote healthy eating habits.
"Special Olympics tends to end at the end of June and nothing starts up again until October, so this will be sort of a link throughout the summer for them which will get the families involved," said VanHage.
Twelve local athletes are entered in next weekend's Special Olympics regional team qualifying golf tournament in Quesnel.
