Last Updated on February 24, 2026 10:54 am
BOONE – Four Watauga County athletes earned medals at the 2026 Special Olympics Southeast U.S. Winter Games held at Appalachian Ski Mountain February 8-10.
Nearly 160 athletes from Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and West Virginia competed in alpine skiing and snowboarding during the three-day event.
Watauga County's Ricky Lee Corley took gold in Monday's alpine skiing competition and added a silver medal on Tuesday. Trenton Ray D'Agostino earned silver medals in snowboarding on both competition days. Clinton Miller brought home a silver medal in Tuesday's alpine skiing event, and Elizabeth Ann Presnell earned a bronze medal Monday and a silver medal Tuesday in alpine skiing.
Athletes received instruction from professional ski and snowboard instructors from French Swiss Ski College before competing against their peers. To ensure fair competition, athletes were placed in divisions based on age, gender, and ability level.
North Carolina athletes competed from 11 local programs across the state, including Buncombe, Burke, Cabarrus, Gaston, Guilford, Iredell, Johnston, Lake Norman, Mecklenburg, Wake, and Watauga.
Special Olympics North Carolina has used the transformative power of sports to improve the lives of children and adults with intellectual disabilities since 1968. Nearly 53,000 athletes and Unified partners in North Carolina participate in year-round training and competition in 20 Olympic-type sports.
Information for this article provided by Special Olympics North Carolina.
