Special Olympians honored by Mayor Dale and West Milford Council

Michael McCloskey and Destiny Gerety made people in the Township of West Milford proud by earning gold and bronze medals in the recent Special Olympics USA Games in Orlando, Florida. McCloskey took the gold in the 1,500-meter race and Gerety earned the bronze in the 3,000-meter race. West Milford Mayor Michele Dale praised their efforts and success and presented them with awards from their hometown at the latest West Milford Township Council meeting.

The Special Olympics USA Games were hosted in Orlando June 5 through 11 with over 41,000 athletes competing in nearly 20 Olympic-style individual and team sports, and with the support of 1,000 coaches, 10,000 volunteers and over 60,000 family friends and spectators cheering them on. Local supporters from that group filled the town hall to see the mayor honor their two favorite athletes.

McCloskey won in the race in 5:09.13 – 17 seconds faster than his previous best in preliminary heat and 26 seconds quicker than he’d run before in USA games. His goal is to keep winning gold medals.

McCloskey and Gerety worked hard to get ready for the competition. His mom drove them to the many two-hour team practices at Point Pleasant during the long preparation period.

Gerety said she was very proud of what her supporters have been doing to help her and she said their support helped her succeed. McCloskey agreed. He said he wouldn’t change anything – including all the hard work and effort that was needed to be award winning medals in the race. The two medal winners thanked everyone for supporting them.