University Place's Ashlee Stine Headed To Greece For Special Olympics

University Place will have its own Olympian in Greece this summer.

Ashlee Stine, a UP native who attended, will be one of nine athletes from Washington state who will compete in the Special Olympics 2011 World Summer Games from July 25 to July 4 in Athens, Greece.

Stine will compete in track and field.

On June 6, UP Mayor Debbie Klosowski and the University Place City Council will recognize Stine for her accomplishments. They scheduled to declare t Ashlee Stine day.

“Having Ashlee represent University Place, as well as Washington State, makes us very proud,” Klosowski said. “She embodies all the qualities you expect of a Special Olympian, with her great attitude and excellent work ethic."

"All of us in University Place will be cheering her on as she participates in this outstanding opportunity.” 

The Team Washington is scheduled for an early morning flight on June 18 from SeaTac to Baltimore, Maryland where they will link up with 419 Special Olympics athletes from all fifty states and two U.S. territories forming Team USA. Then they’re off to Isle of Rhodes, Greece on June 19 in final preparation for the games and a ferry ride to Athens, where they will be joined by 7,500 Special Olympics Athletes from 185 nations competing in 22 Olympic-type sports.

Before flying off to the World Summer Games, Coca Cola of Bellevue will host a send off rally/celebration for Team Washington at their downtown Bellevue headquarters. Coca Cola employees and senior management will be on hand to wish them luck.

Afterward, Team Washington will travel to Safeco Field to be recognized and congratulated by the Seattle Mariners on a job well done and wishes of good luck in competition. The Mariners are hosting a suite where the athletes can relax, woof down a few dogs and enjoy the game.

The Special Olympics World Games will be the crowning of a long lasting movement founded in 1968 by  Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who managed to realize her dream of global magnitude. Special Olympics World Games 2011 will bear a special significance. They will take place, without the presence of their founder, only two years after her death.