Caleb Gehle earns medals at national para youth meet

Chris Faulkner

sports@dailydem.com

You can't control how many competitors you have in an event, so it could have been enough to report that Caleb Gehle of Fort Madison beat Sam Gerousse of Texas in two of out three wheelchair events last week, including missing the national shot put record by 10 inches.

Both have Cerebral Palsy (CP) and competed in the T33 Division - athletes are classified based on the level of their disability - for the Adaptive Sports USA portion of the Para Youth Junior Nationals meet last week in Middleton, Wisconsin.

Gehle won the shot put at 15 feet, won the 100 in 34.25 seconds and was second to Gerousse in the 200 in 1:13.39.

But wait, there's more

But Caleb, a Fort Madison High School senior, and his father, Mike, soon learned that Caleb's performances in those three events were not just impressive but award-winning.

The USA Track & Field organization awarded Gehle a gold in the shot put and a bronze in the track events for his efforts compared to the other wheelchair athletes, regardless of their division.

Gehle's shot put throw of 15 feet was 10 inches shy of the national record.

He then received two bronze medals for his efforts in the 100 and 200.

A point system is used that measures the performance of all wheelchair athletes - whether those with CP, spina fida or other medical conditions - to determine the best of the best.

In the 100-meter race alone, there were 160 ahletes of ambulatory and wheelchair combined.

Just the beginning

This was just the first time Gehle competed in the Junior Nationals - he hadn't even heard of the event until last year - and it turns out this is just the beginning.

"We think it might open things up for other events," said Mike, refering to the Pan Am games, the World CP games and future USAT&F events for adults.

Caleb turns 18 in January and can still race in the junior nationals but would go to a separate event for USAT&F.

Nervous excitement

"I was nervous and excited at the same time," Caleb said Sunday after he returned from Wisconsin.

"Nervous as to how I would do and perform. Excited because I had never experienced anything like that, and I was ready to go."

Caleb needed to qualify for the competition, and he was able to use his performances from the Iowa High School Athletic Associaition's state track meet.

Mike said, however, that had he gone to the regional meet in Chicago, he could have qualified in as many as 10 para athletic events.

Nonetheless, Caleb received a bounty of instruction.

The event hosted training sessions where athletes could learn from seasoned para athletes, including Paralympians, such as Saül Mendoza.

Mendoza has won several Paralympic medals, including the exhibition 1,500 wheelchair event at the 2000 Olympics in Sidney, Australia.

There were Olympic coaches from New Jersey, Texas, Georgia, Caleb said.

But he also benefited from "the help I received from coaches from other teams, athletes from other teams and even parents," Caleb said. "When they got the chance, they would stop me and tell me how I could improve on my throwing form and racing."

Hawaii won

out in '16

Caleb could have gone to the junior nationals last year, but he wasn't about to pass on a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Caleb is in the FMHS marching band. "I decided to save money for Hawaii and the band trip" to the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor.

"My schedule worked out this year to where I could go," Caleb said.

This should be a big boost for his senior year of track next April.

"Going to junior nationals helped a lot with the incoming season for track now that I've got more training," Caleb said. "I've worked on my form for shot put and racing. I think it will be a good season overall."