The anchor of Marshalltown Special Olympics’ 4×100 relay kept a simple goal in mind once he got the baton with the Bobcats in second in Friday afternoon’s race at the Drake Relays in Des Moines.

“I was trying to catch up,” Merical said. “I can run pretty fast, it’s fun.”

Merical delivered with a blazing anchor leg that secured second place for the MHS quartet at Drake Stadium.

Patrick Wheeler, Shoney Albert, Gustavo Carrillo and Merical finished in 1:04.12. The Scott County Adults team won in 59.85.

Marshalltown’s Tayvin Merical sprints down the front straightaway on the anchor leg of the Special Olympics 4x100 at the Drake Relays on Friday.

“He ran too fast,” Merical said of Scott County anchor Islam Tot.

But Merical said he had fun, which is what it’s all about for the recently-restarted Marshalltown Special Olympics program.

Special education teacher Madyson Sodders accompanied the Bobcats down to the Blue Oval on Friday.

Based on times achieved in practices, the Drake Relays invited Marshalltown to compete in Friday’s race against other Special Olympics teams.

“We were like, ‘Awesome, let’s do it,'” Sodders said. “It’s just a really solid group of kids and they were really excited.”

Marshalltown’s Shoney Albert takes off with the baton in the second leg of the Special Olympics 4x100 at the Drake Relays on Friday.

Sodders and Lenihan special education teacher Susan Arifi have been at the forefront of the Special Olympics revival, but Sodders knows they aren’t doing it alone.

“We’ve had a ton of help from the community,” Sodders said. “Matt Butler, the PE teacher over at Lenihan, he’s been very, very helpful. And there’s been a variety of parents that have really stepped up and paraeducators at Lenihan that have been volunteering to stay after school when we have practice on Mondays, making sure the kids are taken care of, comfortable and able to do their best.”

The program is also hoping to expand into Unified Sports, which bring those with and without intellectual disabilities together on the same team. A Unified 4×100 was also contested at the Drake Relays on Friday.

“It’s hard to find student-athletes not already in a sport,” Sodders said. “We’re hoping next year, once we have our feet under us and can get the word out, that we’ll find kids that want to come help.”

Between 40 and 50 athletes currently compete across the program, with a track event coming up in Grinnell on Saturday and a bocce ball and soccer event in Ames scheduled for May 16-18.

Seeing the kids embrace these unique opportunities is a big reward, Sodders said.

“I know for sure they were really nervous on the way up, but it’s just been fun to see their personalities kind of blossom,” Sodders said. “And our confidence has grown quite a bit. It’s really special for me and I’m really excited for them.”