Team OK started in 1992 at the U.S. Transplant Games held in Los Angeles. Jack Ligon, a kidney recipient and the only athlete to represent Oklahoma at the L.A. Games, took the gold for Table Tennis. He returned to the 1994 Games, held in Atlanta, Georgia, where he again took the gold for Table Tennis. Two other Team OK athletes brought home medals as well at the 1994 Games. Charles Gray took home three gold medals for cycling and track events and one bronze for sprint cycling and Steve Plunk took gold in racquetball. Team Ok was represented by 14 athletes and 27 family members in Atlanta.
The 1996 U.S. Transplant Games, held in Salt Lake City, was an even better year for Team OK. The team grew to 24 athletes and 25 family members and friends. Jack and Steve both retained their gold medal titles for their sport in their age group. In Steve Plunk's own words, "That was the game of my life, I will probably never play a game that competitive and tough again!". Gold medals were also won by JoRene Sherburne and Gary Pontious for golf events. Four silver medals were won by Holly Pontious in badminton, Gary Pontious in table tennis, Jane Hoover in tennis singles and Tom Atwood in racquetball singles. Four bronze medals were won by Tom Atwood & Steve Plunk in racquetball doubles, Holly Pontious in table tennis and Elaine Richardson in bowling. Four fourth place mentions were won by David Downen and David Goldsmith in table tennis, and Don Flipse for swimming, and Ray Barnes for golf. Glen Risinger placed 6th and Gary Stephens placed 7th in bowling and Patti Powers placed 6th in cycling.
Gary and Holly Pontious from Tulsa are planning to participate in Sydney, Australia at the World Games.
Return to Table of Contents
|
NAME |
TYPE OF TXP & YEAR |
SPORT |
AGE GROUP |
PREVIOUS GAME EXPERIENCE |
|
Tom Atwood |
Heart 1/4/93 |
racquetball |
46-55 |
4th in singles in Atlanta 2nd in singles and 3rd in doubles in Salt Lake City |
|
Ray Barnes |
Kidney 11/70 |
golf |
+56 |
4th in Salt Lake City in table tennis |
|
David Downen |
Heart 1/12/90 |
golf & table tennis |
+56 |
4th in Salt Lake City |
|
Robert Duval |
Kidney 8/25/92 |
golf |
25-36 |
|
|
Dan Flipse |
Kidney 9/22/67 |
swimming |
46-55 |
4th in Salt Lake City |
|
Ray Frankenberger |
Heart 2/28/85 |
5K road race |
46-55 |
|
|
David Goldsmith |
Kidney 11/14/93 |
table tennis |
46-55 |
4th in Salt Lake City |
|
Jane Hoover |
Liver 8/1/93 |
tennis singles |
46-55 |
2nd in Salt Lake City |
|
Jack Ligon |
Kidney 5/29/91 |
table tennis & tennis singles |
36-45 |
1st in table tennis in LA, Atlanta & Salt Lake City |
|
Lehn Maples |
Heart 6/28/89 |
golf |
+56 |
|
|
Gary Pontious |
Heart 11/19/94 |
golf, bowling and table tennis |
26-35 |
1st in golf, 2nd in table tennis and 4th in bowling in Salt Lake City |
|
Holly Pontious |
Kidney 1/28/90 |
badminton & table tennis |
36-45 |
2nd in badminton and 3rd in table tennis in Salt Lake City |
|
Steve Plunk |
Kidney 6/22/88 |
racquetball singles and doubles |
36-45 |
1st in singles in Atlanta and Salt Lake City 3rd in doubles in Salt Lake City |
|
Earl Pride |
Kidney 1/5/93 |
bowling |
+56 |
|
|
Patti Powers |
Liver 6/25/85 |
20K bicycling |
36-45 |
6th in Salt Lake City |
|
Elaine Richardson |
Liver 1/9/95 |
bowling |
46-55 |
3rd in Salt Lake City |
|
Glen Risinger |
Kidney 1/1/95 |
bowling |
36-45 |
6th in Salt Lake City |
|
Steve Shannon |
Kidney 5/4/94 |
badminton & bowling |
36-45 |
|
|
JoRene Sherburne |
Liver 8/8/94 |
golf |
+56 |
1st in golf in Salt Lake City |
|
Gary Stephens |
Kidney 3/15/83 |
bowling |
36-45 |
7th in Salt Lake City, also participated in Atlanta |
|
Wayne Trimble |
Heart 3/23/93 |
5K road race |
+56 |
|
|
Warren Willcut |
Heart 12/18/93 |
5K road race |
+56 |
|
|
Rebecca Woods |
Kidney 7/12/90 |
badminton & bowling |
36-45 |
|
Return to Team Photos
Return to Table of Contents
Hi, my name is Kim Collins and I am the Team Manager for Team Oklahoma. Thanks for visiting our site. I would like to personally invite anyone who has a functioning transplant to attend the Transplant Games. It will be the experience of a lifetime, I assure you, for you and your family! The comaraderie is unbelievable! You will meet the nicest people from all over the world at the Games, people you and your family can identify with. The opening and closing ceremonies leave not a dry eye in the house. Emotions and energy run high throughout the Games events. It's a great experience!!!
If you have questions or if you would like to become a part of Team Oklahoma, please take a moment to fill out the "HOW TO JOIN THE TEAM" information and send it to me. I am looking forward to hearing from you. Let me introduce you to our Team Committee.
Return to the TransWeb Athletics index
