Mission Valley gets prepared for the Senior Olympics

Long-time Polson athlete and resident Monty Marengo vividly recalled his first-ever Senior Olympic experience in Louisville in 2008.

The Senior Olympics doesn’t require its participants to show their proof of residency and he attempted to qualify for the National Senior Olympics playing in four different states including South Dakota, Arizona, and Montana.

“I went to Nationals in 2008 and there was a guy from Florida that was playing at the Nationals when I played the No. 3 player in a wheelchair,” Marengo said. “He was good and wanted to play me without a handicap and he beat me.”

Marengo, who is a committee director, tennis commissioner, and participant compared his experience at the National Senior Olympic level to that of the “Super Bowl of Table Tennis.”

“At the state level, it’s kind of casual but it’s still competitive,” Marengo said. “There is the best in the nation playing at the National Level and this is our Super Bowl. It’s all in one gymnasium and there are 24 tables, 16 actual games, and places where people practice and play.”

This year, Polson will host the 32nd Annual Montana Senior Olympics Summer Games in Ronan, Polson, and Pablo from June 15-17. The basic requirement for contestants is that they must be 50 years of age or older. The Olympic headquarters will be at the Red Lion Ridgewater Inn.

Marengo also experienced playing table tennis against the then Senior Olympic table tennis champion Lon Dean.

“When I played the National Champion, he beat me and I learned a lot by losing,” Marengo said. “To be honest with you, I didn’t lose that much. I learned what to do and what not to do. In athletics, you always learn more from losing than you do from winning.”

Marengo said against more advanced table tennis players he had to learn to play defense.

“Against a lot of better table tennis players, their weakness is defense and their strong point is offense,” Marengo said. “Some of the better players slam the tennis ball and I have to go for the kill more often than not. The vast majority of table tennis players are offensive players. They will be more aggressive and slam more. I found that my defense carries me.”

Several members of the Polson community will be considered commissioners of various events including archery, basketball, bowling, cycling, golf, horseshoes, pickleball, badminton, race walk, road race, swimming, table tennis, tennis and track and field.

Some of the names on the list to be commissioners are familiar in the Mission Valley world of sports including Matt Seeley, Gale Decker, Marengo, and Lucky Larson.

Decker, who will be the commissioner of the road race, said many people over 50 years of age still have a competitive fire.

“You know there are a lot of folks that are still very competitive and very serious about their training,” Decker said. “You get a group of people that are the hardcore folks and you get some very recreational runners.”

For the road race, the Senior Olympics will use the same course the Mission Mountain Classic Sports Race uses. Decker said he hopes that the Senior Olympics will generate more interest in the area from participants that haven’t experienced the area.

“You get a lot of people from out of the area that haven’t been here before and maybe they get a little taste of Polson and want to come back,” Decker said. “They will spend a few days here and there will be some spin-offs that go beyond just that weekend.”

Ronan athletic director Lucky Larson was designated to be the commissioner of track and field and will be running the track portion with head Chiefs’ coach Brian Labbe.

“We have some great volunteers coming from Ronan and the Mission Valley along with some staff members and we are really excited about having it,” Larson said. “It’s great that they put this event here and the Senior Olympics chose Ronan.”

Larson said being able to host the Olympics will be a positive experience for the community.

“It’s good for the valley and good for our school and community,” Larson said.

The following is a schedule of events for the Montana State Senior Olympics:

THURSDAY EVENTS

Golf at Polson Bay Golf— 10 a.m.

Race Walk at Ronan High track— 4 p.m.

Road Race 5-K at Ronan High School 6 p.m.

Pickleball at Linderman Tennis Courts 10 a.m.

Tennis at Linderman School Courts—12 p.m.

Pasta Buffet 6 p.m. Happy Hour—7 p.m. Pasta Buffet VFW Polson

FRIDAY EVENTS

Bowling at Sports Page Bowl –Polson 10 a.m.

Cycling; 40 K, & 5K at Valley View School-Polson—9 a.m. Horseshoes – Cheers in Pablo—10 a.m,

Race Walk Ronan High Track—9 a.m.

Pickleball – Linderman School –10 a.m.

Swimming- Aquatic Center—1 p.m.

Tennis – doubles and mixed – Linderman School

SATURDAY EVENTS:

Archery Kerr Dam Field –9 a.m.

Basketball—Joe McDonald SportsCenter –Pablo –9 a.m. Cycling 20K and 10 K Valley View School- Polson Road Race – 10 K Ronan High School –9:00am Badminton – Linderman School Gym –all day

Swimming – Aquatic Center –10 a.m.

Table Tennis – Joe McDonald Sports Center—10:00am Field Events – Ronan High Track—all day

Track Events – Ronan High Track—all day