Debut competitors triumph in obstacle courses as Games conclude with multiple championships
By John Groth and Brittany Martin
Two first-time Super G obstacle course competitors each brought home titles during the last day of the 44th National Veterans Wheelchair Games (NVWG) in Minneapolis.
Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) Nevada Chapter member Darnell Calahan won the Super G, while PVA Mid-Atlantic Chapter member Amy McKee won the Super M (motorized wheelchair obstacle course) on Tuesday morning inside the Minneapolis Convention Center in Minnesota.
A 30-year-old Army veteran, Calahan finished the Super G in 2 minutes and 55 seconds, edging out PVA Northwest Chapter member Russ Norris, the two-time defending Super G champ, by 3 seconds at the NVWG, co-sponsored by PVA and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
In his second year at the Games, this marked Calahan’s first official year competing in the obstacle course known as slalom, and then, after finishing in the top two of his division in that event, advancing to the harder obstacle course known as Super G. The top two finishers in each of the four divisions in the obstacle course known as slalom (Divisions II, III, IV and V) advance to the Super G and Super M.
Calahan had his own cheering section, including his wife, Tamarah, and his older sister, Paris, with him. They brought green cheerleader pom-poms and yelled while he competed, then he joined them to cheer and root on his competition after he finished.
“I tried [the obstacle course known as slalom] it out last year. Because I was a drop-in, I couldn’t qualify [for Super G]. And I mean, yeah, it was pretty fun. It’s pretty cool. It was nice for everybody,” Calahan says. “That’s the fun part — cheering for everybody.”
Even with a new obstacle, the roller coaster-like mining car where athletes had to pull themselves across with a rope and then balance themselves at the middle, Calahan says the hardest part was still the rock/sand/gravel pit.
A North Las Vegas resident, Calahan served from 2017 to 2019 in human resources before sustaining a level T11 spinal cord injury (SCI) Jan. 5, 2019, after falling out of a tree.
The purple-haired McKee, meanwhile, dethroned last year’s winner William “Willie” Hendrickson in the Super M, took down six others and got through the new obstacle of moving mechanical pool noodles unscathed.
A 39-year-old Marine Corps veteran, McKee served from 2004 to 2017 as an aviation electrician. She sustained a level L4 SCI in January 2016 from a motorcycle accident on her way to work.
This marked her first time qualifying for the Super G. And she brought a bunch of family with her, as well, including her two sisters (Tiffany and Andi), two nieces (Raven and Amber) and best friend, Kehaulani. McKee and her other family members and friends drove from different states, including Virginia, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, and all met in Minneapolis. She says it was worth it.
“It kind of hasn’t hit yet. But just the camaraderie between branches of service and everybody here between the Super G, the Super M, everybody in the audience,” says McKee, who also earned gold medals in the obstacle course known as slalom and in archery.
Quads Make Pickleball History
This year also featured the first wheelchair pickleball tournament for quadriplegics.
And it featured all Oscar Mike Foundation military athletes. They recruited each other and faced each other in the semifinals and finals Sunday morning inside the Minneapolis Convention Center.
Josh Burch and Kaleb Wilson defeated Ryan Major, Mason Symons and Paul Mann, 11-8, 7-11, 11-6, in a best-of-three finals. With five players, Major, Symons and Mann were allowed to have three players on their team and could substitute players since Symons wasn’t there yet in the semifinals. Mann played in the semifinals before Symons arrived and joined in. Additionally, Symons and Mann had never played before.
A 34-year-old Murfreesboro, Tenn., resident, Wilson says he enjoyed playing against his Oscar Mike friends. The foundation is based in Candlewick Lake, Ill.
“I mean, a lot of trash talk back and forth. You know, do it all the time together,” Wilson says. “Yeah, there was supposed to be, I think, five of us signed up. And so, a couple people didn’t show. So, we filled in with them and got to just play the game.”
A Coast Guard veteran and PVA Vaughan Chapter member, Wilson served from 2009 to 2014 and was a fireman and did search and rescue, law enforcement and homeland security.
He sustained level C5/C6 SCIs from a diving accident in 2012 at City Park in New Orleans. This year marked his third NVWG, and he says playing with Burch was easy.
“I mean, he has a good serve. It’s fun,” Wilson says. “We both are just kind of laid back, but I just like to have fun, so it’s not too bad.”
A New Pickleball Pair
Meanwhile, in the paraplegic division, Air Force veteran and PVA Minnesota Chapter member Robert York faced off against familiar opponents in this year’s NVWG wheelchair pickleball gold-medal game — only this time, with a new partner.
And the change-up paid off for the returning champion, as York and Army veteran and PVA Rocky Mountain States member Todd Costa defeated PVA Southeastern Chapter members Marco Bungert and Justin Hall in two straight sets for the paraplegic division title Tuesday at the Minneapolis Convention Center in Minnesota.
“Congratulations to the consistency of that team. Those two guys made back-to-back gold runs. It’s awesome,” York says of Bungert and Hall.
After his partner from last year, RJ Johnson, opted for another teammate, York joined forces with the 65-year-old Costa, who served from 1979 to 1986 and lives in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Costa is a right leg below-the-knee amputee and sustained his injury in training in 1984. Costa also plays with the U.S. Wheelchair Pickleball Association and competes in charity tournaments, mostly against able-bodied competitors. He last won the silver medal in pickleball at the 2023 NVWG in Portland, Ore., which was his first pickleball competition.
York, who served active duty from 1996 to 2000 and reserves until 2003, says he’s super stoked to have back-to-back gold-medal finishes. But the Woodbury, Minn., resident, who has multiple sclerosis, admits he could have played better.
“In pickleball, you’re not allowed to say, ‘I’m sorry.’ You’re supposed to say, ‘I will do better,’” York says. “Let’s just say, I’ve said, ‘I will do better more often than I typically do.’”
York and Costa agree the keys to their win were playing smart and communication. York says they noted their mistakes, owned up to them and tried to learn from them.
“If he and I are on the same team next year and we keep playing the way we do, and now that we know each other a little better and we can rack up some pretty lopsided scores, then we can get a little fancier, you know, with the serves and stuff,” York says.
Gene Calantoc and Jackie Jones earned the bronze medal.
Huskies Win NVWG Wheelchair Basketball Title
Jesse Lind lit it up.
He caught fire in the second half and helped lead the Huskies to a 61-52 victory over the Bulldogs in the NVWG wheelchair basketball championship game inside the Minneapolis Convention Center in Minnesota on Tuesday afternoon.
A 44-year-old Marine Corps veteran, Lind scored a game-high 32 points, including 20 in the second half, while Charles Armstead added 13 points and Gene Calantoc had 10 to lead the Huskies.
Lind started getting going right before first half, scoring on a rebound buzzer-beating putback of a Calantoc missed shot to tie the game at 31-31 at halftime.
Then, he opened the second half on a tear, scoring the team’s first 15 points off of six baskets and three free throws.
Lind says buddies told him what they were seeing at halftime, and they exploited one of the Bulldogs’ weaknesses.
“They were leaving the middle open, the paint had a lot of opportunity,” says Lind, a Mid-Atlantic PVA Chapter member. “What happened the first half is we kept hitting those baseline shots by the block. And so, we kind of set them up for the middle, because they expected that. And then when they shot out for that, the middle was open and we were able to eat up some time and get some points out of there,” says Lind, who served from 1999 to 2001 in aviation operations and who sustained level T10, T12 and L2 spinal fractures in a car accident in California when he was 18 years old.
Russ Norris tried to keep the Bulldogs in it, scoring 29 points. Alan Lewis added six points, while Erik Mossburg, Garrett Kuwada and Justin Hall scored four each. Brent Norris had three points, while Glenn Fretz had two.
Todd Costa added four points, while Keyla Agosto added two for the Huskies.
Team Frost Puts Chill On Team Wild
Team Frost turned up the heat on Team Wild Tuesday night in the NVWG wheelchair rugby gold-medal game. After being tied at halftime, Team Frost pulled ahead for a 49-47 victory.
Air Force veteran and PVA Mid-Atlantic Chapter member Arrol Clinton, who served from 2005 to 2022 and was diagnosed in 2021 with Guillain-Barré syndrome, a neuromuscular illness in which the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks the nerves, was happy to win wheelchair rugby gold at his first NVWG.
“A lot of these guys I play with in a rugby league throughout the season, so it’s cool to reconnect with them and also meet new people,” says the 39-year-old northern Virginia resident. “Just being able to compete, and then winning is just icing on the cake.”
He says his team gelled really well.
“I think wheelchair rugby is the epitome of ‘do your job’ because there are certain positions and players that are supposed to do certain things and not do other things, so I think we did really well with that,” Clinton says.
He plays for MedStar NRH United out of Washington, D.C., and has played wheelchair rugby for three years. Personally, he thought he played “OK.”
“I’m supposed to score, I’m supposed to control the ball, and I had a few too many turnovers than I should have,” Clinton says. “That’s my job, to not turn the ball over and to facilitate, so I did not do great with that part, but we won so we’ll call it good enough.”
The Vikings earned the bronze medal.
Cornhole Gold
The PVA Minnesota Chapter dominated the cornhole finals, too, as two members competed on opposing teams in the gold-medal match Tuesday at the NVWG.
PVA Minnesota Chapter member John Novicki and PVA Buckeye Chapter member Brandon Starkey took the title over PVA Minnesota Chapter member Jeffrey Edwards and PVA Rocky Mountain States member David Spotts by two games to one in the best-of-three championship.
Novicki, who served in the Navy from 1977 to 1983 and has multiple sclerosis, says he was happy to contribute to his team’s medal count because they’re “all in the same boat.”
“I feel pretty fortunate,” says the 71-year-old Minneapolis resident. “This was my first cornhole tournament, so to come out and play as well as I did … I’ve been working out a lot and I know my strength’s up, so I guess that would be my golden forte.”
Starkey served in the Army National Guard from 2006 to 2012 and lives in Wilmington, Ohio. The 38-year-old sustained a level T10 spinal cord injury in a 2012 car accident after being ejected out of the sunroof.
He says it felt amazing to win the cornhole gold medal and that he often plays the popular lawn game, which involves tossing bean bags onto an angled board with a hole in it.
“Now I’ve got bragging rights back home,” he says. “I just like the skill that it takes to throw the bag and be able to hit the board, figuring out how to make it slide into the hole. We were just playing to have fun.”