BLOOMINGTON - Watching deserving people get their due recognition is a heart-warming thing for the coaches of Special Olympians Josh McClellan, Brandy Mullenbach and Patty Piercy.

The trio travels with Illinois' 67-athlete delegation to Ames, Iowa Saturday to participate in the inaugural Special Olympics USA National Games Sunday through July 7.

All 50 states will be represented as approximately 3,500 athletes with intellectual disabilities gather on the campus of Iowa State University to compete in aquatics, track, basketball, gymnastics, powerlifting, bowling, tennis, golf, softball, bocce, soccer and volleyball.

Saybrook's McClellan, 17, will run the 1,500- and 3,000-meter events as well as the 400 relay while Bloomington's Piercy, 37, and Lincoln's Mullenbach, 29, are basketball teammates on a squad Stanford's Mary Jo Johnson is helping coach.

Johnson, the athletic director for Bloomington's Special Opportunities Available in Recreation (SOAR) program, said McClellan and Piercy are the kind of people who sometimes get overlooked.

"That's why I'm really pleased with these two athletes," she said. "Here are people who have always been there, doing what needs to be done. You don't have to look over their shoulder. You don't have to micromanage them in any way. Often those people are overlooked. They are rewarded (now), which is very good."

Lincoln Jaguars basketball coach Ryan Curry called Mullenbach "one of our most phenomenal players" and not just because she averages 30 points a game.

"She really leads the team to having fun and keeping their heads up," he said.

McClellan and Piercy are up to their necks in honors this year. Piercy (profiled in a June 16 Pantagraph article) was named the Special Olympics Illinois Outstanding Athlete of the Year while McClellan was chosen to give the athletes' oath at the recent Special Olympics Illinois Summer Games in Normal.

"He absolutely did great," Johnson said.

Was he nervous?

"Not really," McClellan said. "I knew what it was."

McClellan has become quite a distance runner in just his second year of track.

His 1,500 times have gone from 7 minutes, 44.97 seconds in the pre-area meet, to 6:24.70 in the area meet, to a winning 5:36.80 in the state meet.

Similarly, his 3,000 times have dropped from 18:36.09 to 14:25.20 to 13:29.10 under the coaching of Amanda Cross, who has trained him three times a week since March.

"She's been telling me about posture when I'm running and stuff - lean slightly forward and keep my head up in the air," McClellan said.

Cross isn't surprised by his improvement.

"I knew he could do it," she said. "I think my proudest moment was when he ran the 1,500 in 5:36.80 at state."

Typically, McClellan follows a front-runner before grabbing the lead on the last lap.

"This whole experience for him " I can see the confidence and maturity building up," Johnson said.

McClellan became a Special Olympian at age 11 in basketball. His running motion was so awkward, observers thought he might trip.

"At school they have always called him the Ostrich because he has a long body with long legs and he used to have this tendency to lean forward or lean back all the time," Johnson said. "He has really worked on that. He has a beautiful motor pattern now."

Lincoln's Mullenbach has a beautiful collection of more than 120 Special Olympics medals, which she started earning at age 5. The collection grew during the State Games when she placed second in the shot put and fourth in the 400 walk.

"She has participated for so long and she's good at everything she does," said Curry, who rates basketball her best sport.

"She pretty much can do anything on the court. She is one of the taller girls so she doesn't have a problem getting rebounds. Defensively, she is very good. She can move her feet and get in front of them."

Now the experience of a lifetime is in front of Mullenbach, McClellan and Piercy.

"I think it's going to be a fantastic experience for all the athletes," Johnson said.

USA National Games

When: July 2-7

Where: Ames, Iowa

Who More than 3,500 athletes (67 from Illinois) with intellectual disabilities

Area entrants: Saybrook's Josh McClellan, Bloomington's Patty Piercy and Lincoln's Brandy Mullenbach