Meet Xander! 
Xander is a Unified Partner with Special Olympics South Dakota and is part of the NESC delegation. He is a sophomore at Dakota State University and a running back on the football team, he also runs track for the Trojans. His goal at DSU is to start a Unified program at the college level. He has been working on it for a year now and is close to getting it up and running. Xander is a physical education major and is going to get his special education endorsement.
He has been a Unified Partner for 5 years and participates in basketball, bowling, athletics, and soccer.
Outside of being a Unified Partner, Xander enjoys hunting, fishing, sports, cooking/baking/smoking meat, playing video games, hanging out with family, cheering on his brother who is a Special Olympics South Dakota athlete, hanging with friends, listening to music, and volunteering for Special Olympics.
Xander has many favorite memories from participating in Special Olympics, his first would have to be when he was selected to go to the USA Games in Seattle for basketball. They were in the Championship game when an athlete with Down Syndrome made a three and ran into the crowd to give his mom a hug. His second favorite memory was when he got a chance to play basketball again in Orlando with his brother and dad as a coach. What made it special was he got the honor of winning his second gold medal at the games with his brother and dad. By far his favorite medal he’s ever received since he got to do it with the people he loves.
If you see Xander volunteering or helping out with getting DSU started with the Unified Champion School program, be sure to say hi!
