After a weather postponement, Unified Bocce teams from George Washington High School and Hill-Freedman World Academy made their way to Camp Hill, PA on Friday, March 23 for the 2018 Interscholastic Unified Indoor Bocce State Championship. Both teams qualified for the championship after placing first in their respective divisions in the Philadelphia City Championship earlier in the season. This year, eleven high school teams advanced from seven regions of the state. Like Geroge Washington and Hill-Freedman, each school earned a spot in this event by winning their county or city championships. Our two Philadelphia teams joined the Rochester Rams and Central Valley Warriors who represented Beaver, the Upper Dauphin Trojans who represented Dauphin, the Haverford Fords who represented Delaware, the Grove City Eagles and West Middlesex Big Reds who represented Mercer, North Penn Knights who represented Montgomery, and the North Penn Liberty Mounties who represented Tioga counties.
During the Opening Ceremony, Mike Handleman, joined the head coach from North Penn Liberty High School, Carissa Flook, to lead the coaches in the Special Olympics Coaches Oath. Right before the Games were declared open, John Gombocz, Special Education Advisor for the PA Dept. of Education took to a bocce court to roll out our first ceremonial ball. George Washington and Hill-Freedman faced off each other in the first game with George Washington taking the win with a score of 12-2. In the next game, George Washington faced North Penn High School and lost 3-7. Hill-Freedman went up against West Middlesex High School and lost 4-11. The last round would determine where teams would end up on the podium. George Washington faced North Penn Liberty in hopes to make it to the podium with a bronze medal. Unfortunate, Geroge Washington lost in the last frame with the final score being 5-7. On the other side of the arena, Hill Freedman played Haverford High School for 7th place and ended up losing 2-10. In the end, Hill-Freedman walked away with the eighth place ribbon and Geroge Washington walked away with the fourth place ribbon. Congratulations to both schools, the athletes, partners and coaches on all of your hard work and making it to the state championships. You all truly live out the vision of Unified.
| George Washington Eagles | Hill-Freedman High School |
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| Alyssa Henry, Senior Kaitlyn Pemper, Senior Karen Hua, Senior Faheem Rucker, Junior Nikolas Feaster, Junior Isaiah Jackson, Junior Perla Ayala, Sophomore Ivri McDaniel, Sophomore Yvonne Schwiker, Coach Lori Solomon, Coach |
Conrad Edwards, Senior Sean Washington, Senior Laurance Warner, Senior Mark Robbins, Senior Justice Saunders, Junior Justin Berry, Junior Anniya Gentles, Freshman Jibard Richardson, Freshman Mike Handelman, Coach Joseph Moore, Coach |
For all photos from the event from Photography by Dane, click here.
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