http://www.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013306090041&nclick_check=1
Reno Gazette-Journal
Winning isn’t everything, but it sure does feel good.
You might not find Jack Rovetti’s win in a heat of the 100-meter dash at the final middle school track meet of the season in any record books. But for the runners in the race and the people in the stands at McQueen High School that sunny day in May, it will be a lasting memory — one made of friendship and sportsmanship and selflessness and smiles and tears.
Rovetti, an eighth-grader with Down syndrome at Swope Middle School in southwest Reno, lined up with four runners to his left and his teammate Drew Rippingham to his right. The heat featured runners from Clayton, Billinghurst and Swope.
When the gun went off to start the race, Jack, a head shorter than most of the other runners, churned into the lead. Halfway down the track, he maintained it — about a five-yard cushion — and as he crossed the finish line a few seconds later, he was alone in first place.
The first to congratulate him and slap five was Drew, and the other runners followed suit with smiles and back pats all around.
“It was very touching,” said Jim Rippingham, a Huffaker Elementary School teacher and Drew’s father, who watched the race unfold. “There were a lot of tears, to tell you the truth, once people in the stands kind of figured out what was happening.”
Yes, the other runners intentionally held back so Jack could win. The fix was in. That is not the takeaway.
This moment came about because some 14-year-old boys — that general class of knucklehead known more for stinky shoes and video game addictions — did something nice for a fellow student without expecting a thing in return.
For more on this story including video, go to http://www.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013306090041&nclick_check=1
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