SPECIAL OLYMPICS: TRIO OF LOCAL ATHLETES WIN MEDALS AT LYCOMING SWIM INVITE (April 21, 2026)

Valley Sports Report
WILLIAMSPORT — Sayre's Elizabeth Porter and Towanda's Jacob Stiner each won three events, and Towanda's Deborah Mapes won one here recently at the first annual Team Lycoming Swim Invitational here at Williamsport High School.

The Special Olympics Pennsylvania (SOPA) Bradford-Sullivan Counties swim team competed for the first time this season on Saturday, April 11. 

In an early event, Porter won the first-place blue ribbon in the 200-yard freestyle. Soon after, Jacob Stiner won his first blue ribbon of the day in the 100-yard freestyle. Next, Deborah Mapes swam to a third-place finish in the 25-yard backstroke.

The 50-yard backstroke featured Jacob Stiner winning first-place for his division. Elizabeth Porter then won the 100-yard backstroke, and Deborah Mapes returned to the pool to earn first place in the 25-yard freestyle.

Porter then swam the 800-yard freestyle, almost a half-mile in the pool, and earned another first place. Stiner won another first place, this time in a very competitive 50-yard freestyle. In another division of the 50-yard freestyle, Mapes swam hard to capture third-place.

At the end of the morning, Team Bradford-Sullivan competed in the 4-by-25-yard freestyle relay with a swimmer on loan from the Columbia-Montour Counties team. This race featured Stiner,
Mapes, Troy Jackson (Columbia-Montour) and Porter, swimming to second place.

Special Olympics Pennsylvania Bradford-Sullivan Counties thanks Tioga Downs, the Knights of Columbus, the United Way, the family and community members in the Polar Plunge, and other generous supporters who make participating in competitions possible. The next competition will be the Special Olympics Pennsylvania Spring Sectional at St. Francis University in Loredo, Pa. on April 26.

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IN PHOTO: From left, Elizabeth Porter, Deborah Mapes, Troy Jackson, and Jacob Stiner. ... PHOTO SUBMITTER.

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