One of Yelm’s longest-tenured coaches is Sonia Wengelewski, who has coached the Yelm Wolf Pack for more than 37 years. The Special Olympics track and field team, composed of athletes with disabilities from ages 9 and up, is preparing for its upcoming season.
The program started through Thurston County Parks and Recreation Department, and Wengelewski joined as a coach because her friend’s sister competed on the team. This season, the Wolf Pack will take the track for two competitions, the first at regionals on Sunday, May 5, at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma.
Several of Wengelewski’s athletes have played for the Wolf Pack for more than a decade, and she loves to motivate them to be active.
“I think it’s great that they’ve stayed with me for so long. They like me,” she said. “It’s very important to me.”
Her impact on her athletes stretches far beyond any medals or any statistics. Jennifer Ryals, who has been a member of the Wolf Pack for more than 10 years, praised Wengelewski for her kindness and compassion.
“She is the nicest coach. She helps other people get outside, and she makes me feel like there’s something out there for people that are like us,” said Ryals, who will compete in wheelchair events this season. “I joined the team because I got tired of sitting around doing nothing and needed to stretch. She’s kept me active and kept me happy and my doctors happy with me. It’s given me the socialization I need on top of that.”
The Wolf Pack will have runners and walkers who will compete in 100-meter and 200-meter events, and they will have wheelchair, obstacle, tennis ball throw, softball throw and javelin events as well.
Tracy Guerin returned to the team this year after joining in elementary school years ago. She and Wengelewski agreed that every addition to the Wolf Pack is special.
“The kids change, and they all have different personalities. They express their personalities in different ways,” Guerin said.
Ashley Swails joined the team two decades ago as a 10-year-old and is excited to be a runner this season. She is hungry for redemption after her shortcoming at a previous state event.
“I like to walk, but when I was at state, I got disqualified from my first event, and I was not happy,” she said. “But coach gave me a hug and said, ‘You’re gonna be a runner.’”
Wengelewski is helping her athletes focus on fundamentals, including Swails, who was disqualified due to the rule that walkers cannot have both feet off the ground at one time. Runners, who are not specifically required to run, will not be disqualified for this rule. She also is training the athletes to remain in their running and walking lanes, as moving outside of them is also a disqualification.
“These practices are to get us moving and walking. We have to get on the line and start practicing in the lane, specifically on the corners because the corners are what mess everything up,” she said, adding she has the athletes concentrate on the corners.
Wengelewski, who volunteers her time along with four other adults, wants the Yelm community to support the Wolf Pack at their practices and events. They practice from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. every Monday and Wednesday at the Yelm High School track, and all practices are open to the public.
“They should support us because we’re local. There’s a lot of special needs people or people that need to have something other than school events to go to,” Wengelewski. “There’s still things that they could do to enjoy the sun and get outside. Just come to our events. That’s the only struggle we do have.”
Special Olympics athletes across the state will compete at regional competitions in May and must get a gold medal in three different events to qualify for state competition, which takes place from June 7 through June 9 at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma.
