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Student spotlight: Meet state champion Isaiah Hayes

Isaiah Hayes is a natural athlete. The Glen Crest eighth grader is tall, thin, and it doesn’t take much prompting for him to assure you that he is “the fastest man alive.”

Isaiah loves to play basketball, mostly with his family and neighborhood friends.

But until last year, Isaiah, 13, had not had many opportunities to compete in larger groups.

Isaiah Hayes with his family In 2016, Community Consolidated School District 89 started its first Special Olympics track team. Since you can’t have a track team without the fastest man alive, Isaiah was one of the first CCSD 89 students to sign up.

For weeks, he practiced with his CCSD 89 teammates, the teachers who coached the team, and the student track mentors who worked with the Special Olympians.

The hard work paid off. Among hundreds of athletes in the regional competition held at the College of DuPage, Isaiah took first place in the 50-meter run and standing long jump, qualifying for state in both events.

For his parents, the state meet was intimidating and exciting. They were thrilled the meet was in Bloomington, Ill., where Isaiah was born. It meant plenty of family members could see him compete.

But his parents were worried that the big atmosphere – 4,000 athletes plus supporters filling a big stadium – might overwhelm him. Isaiah has a speech impediment and they were concerned he might not be able to communicate his needs to unfamiliar officials.

And then there was the competition: Isaiah was pitted in the long jump against young man who was more than 6 feet tall.

But when Isaiah stepped the line for the long jump, he soared.

“Isaiah jumped like he’d never jumped before,” said his mother, Nicola. “I think he understood it was competition time and he had to bring out his best.”

Isaiah became Community Consolidated School District 89’s first Special Olympics state champion.

The athletic success is great but the meet was about much more than that.

“I think it is important to his growth and development to see people who may have challenges but are able to achieve at high levels,” Nicola said. “Everyone was cheering whether they got sixth or first. That was a great environment to be a part of.”

Isaiah’s father Clarence was wowed by the support from the District and the Special Olympics community.

“It was definitely worth it to give him an opportunity to work as a team,” Clarence said. “We couldn’t stop talking about it. The District is really doing great things.”

For the 2017-18 school year, the District has added soccer and Isaiah’s specialty: basketball. Isaiah already knows exactly which NBA superstar he’ll be.

“I’m going to be Curry,” he says with a huge smile.

Watch out, Seth Curry. The fastest man alive is right on your heels.