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The Rural Maine Reporting Project is made possible through the generous support of the Betterment Fund.

MPA Will Allow Athlete In Wheelchair To Compete In Cross Country Race

After outcry from runners and other community members, the Maine Principals' Association (MPA) will now allow a high school athlete using a wheelchair to participate in upcoming championship cross country competitions.

The MPA initially told Leavitt High School sophomore Jonathan Schomaker that he couldn't participate in the upcoming regional and state meets on a course in Cumberland due to safety concerns. Schomaker has a disability and uses a wheelchair during races, with his father close by. His school appealed that decision, but that was denied last month.

However, MPA Assistant Executive Director Mike Bisson says the organization, after hearing feedback from many in the community and visiting the course earlier this week, determined that Schomaker could compete in his own, separate wheelchair division that would run its own race.

"Establish that division like we have in track and indoor track, would be consistent with those other two activities. So we have approved that request from the school," Bisson says.

But Bisson says that the MPA plans to visit the course Tuesday to consider whether Shomaker might compete in the same race as other competitors.

"It would have to be a course that's doable for him,” Bisson says. “And one that reduces the amount of risk with the two-way traffic, as much as possible, through the woods, where the course narrows."

The cross country regional championships are scheduled to take place October 26. The state meet will take place on November 2.

Correction: Due to an editorial error, a headline in the original version of this post erroneously stated that Schomaker would not be able to compete, but he will.