Wheelchair-bound local tosses competition aside

Only one athlete represented Nevada at the 2004 National Junior Disabled Sports Championships in Mesa, Ariz. in July. And that young athlete, 8-year-old Cheyenne Leonard of Las Vegas, did the city and state proud, receiving several awards and setting a new national record in the discus with a throw of 6.93 meters.

More than 250 athletes with disabilities between the ages of 6 and 21 from more than 40 states and four foreign countries competed in the games.

Cheyenne started her first year with BlazeSports, an organization which is primarily funded and facilitated by the City of Las Vegas Department of Leisure Services Adaptive Recreation Division.

Bob Murray, coordinator of the program, and head coach Joe Shifflett help teach children with disabilities of various ages the different skills and techniques required to participate in group and individual sports of all types. Track and field, basketball and golf are among the various sports the wheelchair-bound kids are taught.

Cheyenne qualified for the national event in May at the Far West Regional Games in San Jose, Calif. She next entered the Hershey Track & Field Meet here in Las Vegas, where she placed first overall in cumulative scores from all events in her 8- and 9-year-old age group.

The Hershey meet added BlazeSports as a pilot program, giving the athletes an opportunity to participate in the meet for the first time.

"For us it was a really big deal," said Janell Bettinger, from the Adaptive Recreation Division. "We see how far the support has come through the years. It was the first time athletes with disabilities were allowed to compete at the meet this year. That was really special."

In June, Cheyenne participated in the Endeavor Games, sponsored by Hanger Orthotics, in Edmond, Okla. All she did there was win the gold medal in every single event she entered: the 60-meter dash, 100 meters, 200 meters, javelin, discus, shot put and softball throw.

"She was wearing her seven medals all the way to the airplane," said Andreana Leonard, Cheyenne's mother. "They were almost bigger than her."

After sweeping the Endeavor Games, Cheyenne set her sights on the nationals where she and Shifflett were the only two members representing the Silver State in the event's opening march.

"I only realized I broke the (discus) record when they told me," Cheyenne said. "I thought it was a pretty far toss after I threw it."

The environment she was exposed to there was as satisfying for her as the competition itself.

"Cheyenne was around other people that were just like her for the first time," Bettinger said. "For her it's not about the competition. She found something she was good at and where there were other people just like her for the first time in her life."

After setting a new national record in the discus throw for her age group, Cheyenne was extremely humble and somewhat unaware of her newfound glory.

"She's was just out there having fun. That's the beauty of it," Bettinger said. "She's just 8 years old. She doesn't know what national champion means."

Cheyenne didn't even compete as an athlete until this past year. After getting tossed off a horse last year, she made a decision that has profoundly affected her life.

"She competed in rodeos last year and then she quit to start racing," her mother said. "But then she got flipped from the horse, completely upside-down and landed flat on her back. So she decided to start racing because she felt she could control it more compared to the horse."

In just her first year with BlazeSports, Cheyenne, who practices in 110-degree-plus heat at Cimarron-Memorial High School, has already made her mark.

"I hope we like each other because we're going to know each other for a long time," Shifflett told Cheyenne after nationals. "You're stuck with me now."

Her mother said Cheyenne is practicing even harder and is eyeballing all the events next year.

"I tell her it doesn't matter how you get there, it's what you do when you get there," Andreana said. "It's amazing. When she was born, we worried about all of the things we thought she couldn't do physically, and then it turns out that she's the only athlete in our extended family."


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