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Show County cops carry Olympic torch By JACK FORISKA Staff Writer BOUNTIFUL Davis County law enforcement officers teamed up with Special Olympic athletes and Hardee's Wednesday to carry the Olympic torch from county line to county line. The torch run is part of a nationwide nation-wide fundraiser for Special Olympics. Olym-pics. More than 150 Davis officers participated this year as Davis was the last county to run. The annual event began on May 20. City police officers and county sheriffs throughout the state ran the lengths of their respective counties - to help the cause of Special Olympics Olym-pics in Utah. Officers and athletes ran 1,300 miles after the Davis County contribution. Patrolman Brad Jensen and his wife Michele have been in charge of Davis County's role in the run for the past three years. Jensen was presented with a plaque honoring him for his contribution at the Bountiful Hardee's checkpoint Wednesday. Special Olympian J.D. Stewart of Bountiful ran with police torch be arers from the Hardee ' s in Centerville to the Bountiful store, a distance of 4 miles. Amy Bess, this year's team princess, joined the running officers at that point and wheelchaired into North Salt Lake. "It was hard and tiring," said J.D. "but I made it." J.D. will be competing com-peting in the 100-meter race, the relays and T-ball, while Bess is a standout on the 25- and 50-meter wheelchair slalom. The South Davis team has 15 athletes competing in this year's games, and 1991 will mark the first time the team will compete in the T-ball T-ball tournament. South Davis' eight-year veteran coach, Bill Sorensen, says this year will be a learning experience because they have never worked together as a team. He sings the praises of the Special Olympics program and says he keeps coming back because of rewards associated with watching the kids grow. "I'm sure I've become more tolerant and aware of others. We all have abilities, abili-ties, some are just different than others." He likes to refer to the kids as differently-abled not disabled. The annual Special Olympics Games started on Thursday at BYU and will run through Saturday. There will be wheelchair races and the wheelchair softball throw as well as non-chair events that will include T-ball, 50- and 100-meter dashes, the softball throw and the standing long jump. j This year's South Davis team princess, Amy Bess, gets set to run with Bountiful patrolman Gary Haus and Woods Cross officers, Eileen Knighton and Bruce Timothy. Timothy earned the torch from Bountiful Boun-tiful to North Salt Lake. (Clipper photo by Jack Foriska) i |