CHRIS CODUTO/Arizona Daily Wildcat Derek Brown (right), introduces Tyler Byers and Jenny Goekel, two of the six athletes the UA will send to the Paralympic Games, which begin Sept. 19.

Six athletes get ready for Athens Paralympics

Even though the Olympics ended yesterday, six UA athletes are gearing up to compete in Athens in September.

The Paralympic Games will kick off Sept. 19, and will include more than 4,000 athletes from 120 countries, according to the U.S. Paralympic Committee.

Three women and two men from the UA will leave from Washington, D.C. with more than 200 U.S. competitors attending the games, said Derek Brown, UA wheelchair track and road racing coach.

Coach Brown recruited the track racers to be a part of the UA's team.

Jennifer Goekel, Shirley Reilly, Tyler Byers, and Cheri Blauwet are wheelchair racers competing in events ranging from the 100-meter race to the marathon.

Goekel, a recent UA graduate in psychology, had a goal her freshman year of making the Paralympic team in 2004, Brown said.

"It's nice to see that goal realized after four years," Brown said.

Goekel was afflicted before birth with spina bifida, a birth defect that causes the spinal column to remain open, she says.

The Seattle native has been racing since the age of 10 and said she is very excited and has worked very hard for the opportunity.

Goekel will compete in the 100-meter, 200-meter, 400-meter, 800-meter and 1,500-meter races.

Reilly, a 19-year-old central California native, said she is taking a year off from school to compete in wheelchair racing.

Reilly is paralyzed from the waist down due to premature birth, which caused a curvature of her spine.

She has been to one international competition in France; however, she says she is nervous because this will be her first Paralympics.

Reilly, who has been racing since the age of 10, will be competing in the 100- meter, 400-meter and 800-meter races in Athens.

Although the UA's athletes will compete against each other, they work together to make camaraderie a priority.

"Jenny definitely pushes me to be a better athlete," Reilly said of her teammate.

Byers is a 22-year old marathon racer from Spokane, Wash., who said there is no time to be nervous with his rigorous training schedule.

The track team works out six days a week, alternating between shorter-distance intervals for three days and long-distance endurance training for three days, Byers said.

"We go about 80 to 90 miles per week all together," Byers said.

Because coach Brown is retiring after this season, Byers is stepping up to be the next head track and road racing coach, Brown said.

"I couldn't think of a better person to hand it off to," Brown said.

In Athens, Byers, who is also wheelchair-bound due to a birth defect, will compete in the 800-meter, 5,000-meter, 10,000-meter and marathon races.

Blauwet, a previous Paralympic medalist, is already in Europe training for the games, Brown said.

In 2003, Blauwet won both the New York City and Los Angeles Marathons, and placed second in the Boston Marathon. In 2004 she won all three.

In the 2000 Sydney Paralympics, Blauwet won a silver medal for the 100- meter race, and picked up three bronze medals in the 200-meter, 400-meter and 800-meter races.

Blauwet will be competing in the 800-meter, 1,500-meter, 5,000-meter and marathon races in September.

Along with track and road racing, the UA is also sending competitors in basketball and tennis.

Athletes Renee Tyree, a wheelchair basketball player, and David Wagner, a wheelchair tennis player, will be joining the team in Athens.

Tyree said she became wheelchair-bound at 19 from a virus called CIDP, which attacks the nervous system and stifles the functionality of the legs or arms.

The virus gradually attacked her body until eventually she was unable to walk.

Tyree, who is a member of the women's basketball team, was in the Barcelona and Atlanta Paralympics in 1992 and 1996, respectively.

"I'm not really nervous. I'm more excited," Tyree said about the upcoming Games.

Tyree said she trains seven days a week, incorporating weight lifting, cardio and shooting practice in her workout routine.

"I expect to win," Tyree said.

Tyree said she is confident in the basketball team's ability this year because the team has had so much time to train with all 12 players.

"We meet once a month in different parts of the country," Tyree said.

This may not seem like much practice time, but in past years, the team has not been able to train extensively together due to the distance separating each athlete throughout the United States.

The team's biggest competition will be Canada, Tyree said.

Wagner, the tennis player ranked No. 1 in doubles and No. 2 in singles in the world, is favored to win gold in Athens, according to Jim Livengood, the UA athletics director.

Wagner, a UA graduate student, lost the use of his legs at a California beach nine years ago this month.

Wagner said he was throwing a Frisbee on the beach with a friend. While slightly immersed in the ocean water, a huge wave crashed into him and took his legs out from under him, Wagner said.

Eighteen singles titles and 21 doubles titles later, Wagner said he is very anxious to compete in his first Paralympics, and that he will compete in the Paralympics through 2012 if physical conditions permit.