07-02-2025
Local Special Olympics athletes surprised with news of joining Team Pennsylvania
After months of practice and preparation, two local athletes find out they're going to a national competition next year.
Not everyone can call themselves an Olympian, but Thursday night two local women reached that athletic status.
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Hard work has gotten Reshema Sedziak and Mary Nigro several gold medals and first-place ribbons, but now that hard work is taking them even further.
Thursday night the two women were surprised with the news that they will be representing Team Pennsylvania at the 2026 Special Olympics in Minnesota, starting a new journey for the athletes.
'It feels really good to be selected and I'm proud of myself, all my accomplishments,' Sedziak said.
I got so excited and I'm like, 'Yay, I get to go to Minnesota,' because I've always wanted to be there and see what it's like,' Nigro said.
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Sedziak is an Erie County resident and will be competing in golf at the Special Olympics and Nigro is from Mercer County and will be competing in bowling.
The women will join 3,000 other athletes around the nation at the games in June 2026.
Now those two athletes will be hopping on a plane to Minnesota for the 2026 Special Olympics, and when they heard the news here on Thursday, emotions were running high.
'It feels really good to know that I'm able to do this, and that I can bowl a good score,' Nigro said.
'I was nervous, I thought they were going to announce my husband's name, but they announced my name. I'm like, 'What?'' Sedziak recalled.
Team Pennsylvania's golf coach met his newest player for the first time at the event at 5 Iron Golf. He said he's ready to get to work with Sedziak.
'Actually, one of the first things she said to me is that she's never flown before, and I used to be terrified of flying, so I was trying to tell her a little about that, but I'm really looking forward to practicing,' Marc McCarey, Team Pennsylvania's golf coach, went on to say.
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McCarey and Sedziak wasted no time practicing for the big competition, hitting the golf simulator shortly after the announcement.
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