Ashley Reed, 20, and her boyfriend, Alan Scott, 21, have six medals to remember their first Special Olympics by.

“This was our first year,” Alan said Monday afternoon at Ashley’s house on E. Railroad Street in Dowagiac.

He earned a gold medal for shot put and two bronzes for the 100-meter dash and a four-person relay.
“She talked me into it,” Alan said.

“I love it because it’s so much fun,” Ashley said.

“I get to meet new people and get out and do some things. We also competed in basketball in December.”

Ashley and Alan attend Lewis Cass Intermediate School District’s North Pointe Center.
Ashley collected a silver for softball throw (“I almost got first”) and two bronzes for 50-meter and 100-meter dashes.

They rode in a Special Olympics van to reach Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant.
“There were 63 people from the whole area of Cass and Van Buren counties,” Ashley said. “Last year I wasn’t signed up all the way, so I could only go to Berrien Springs to get my ribbon. Mount Pleasant was huge.”

“Last year I was too nervous to sign up,” Alan admitted. “We practiced at Cassopolis high school.”
“We picked three events we wanted to do when we signed up for track,” according to Ashley.

“I want to try the shot put next year. Coach let me try it and I’m pretty good at it. I like playing basketball in my free time. I hang my medals on my mirror in my room.”

With school out for the summer, and fond memories made at North Pointe’s first prom, they are focusing on their jobs.

Ashley works at St. John’s day care five days a week, Alan for Hale’s Hardware.
They have been friends since ninth grade and started dating almost nine months ago.