Two Moore County athletes won big at the Special Olympics USA National Games in Nebraska last month.

Alana Willis, 33, of Pinehurst, and Gre’Anna Edwards, 17, of Southern Pines, each medaled at the Lincoln games. Willis won a gold medal in her division for individual golf skills, while Edwards won a silver medal in her division for shot put and a bronze medal for the 4x100 meter relay. She also took home ribbons in the 100-meter and 200-meter runs.

“It was fun,” Willis said. “It was really exciting.”

More than 3,000 athletes took part in the competition in Lincoln, which ran July 18-23. Many of the events were held at the University of Nebraska.

Willis won gold in dramatic fashion, edging out the next competitor by just one point.

The individual skills competition in golf measures six skills — short putting, long putting, chipping, pitching, iron shots and wood shots. The athletes earn points for their performance in each category, and the highest cumulative score wins. Willis said she enjoys putting the most.

Willis’ gold medal gives her the possibility of being to selected to participate in the World Games.

Her mom, Zona, described Alana’s phone call home after she won gold.

“She was so excited,” Zona said. “I was not here when she called the first time, and she called three times and it was just ‘Hurry up, mom, call me back. Hurry up, call me back, mom. Hurry up, call me back.’ I called her and she said, ‘I did it! I won first place! I got a gold medal!’”

Willis said she’s been playing golf “for a real good while” and spends a lot of time hitting the links with her dad, Tom.

“I did a lot of practicing with my daddy,” she said, referring to preparing for the competition. “He took me out about every day.”

Willis is a bowler, too, and said her favorite part about bowling is “making strikes,” because she makes a lot of them. She enjoys watching TV in her spare time, and said her favorite golfer is Tiger Woods.

In addition to the competition, Willis said she had the opportunity to meet a lot of new friends. She said she enjoyed spending time in Nebraska and looks forward to competing again in the future.

Zona praised Special Olympics North Carolina, calling it “absolutely fantastic.”

“We were extremely excited just for her to get the privilege of being able to go,” Zona said. “What else can I say? It was a wonderful experience, and she had a good time.”

Edwards beamed with her trademark smile as she talked about her experience and proudly displayed her medals and ribbons. She’s been competing in the Special Olympics for six years.

“I had fun,” she said, adding that she loved all of the events. She also likes to play tennis.

Edwards’ run to the silver medal in the shot put was quite the feat, considering she hadn’t even picked up a shot until three months ago. Scott Boucher, an advanced certified coach with Special Olympics Moore County, said she couldn’t even lift the heavy metal ball at first.

“That’s what’s so impressive, I think, for her,” he said. “She did it in three months, and then to go all the way to nationals and win a medal — her mom was just ecstatic.”

Edwards’ mom, Mary, said that Gre’Anna has always been a runner but ended up in the shot put competition at the local and state levels almost by accident. At first, she had difficulty with the event but worked tirelessly with her family and coaches from Pinecrest High School to get the hang of it.

The hard work paid off. Mary checked the statistics online daily, and she couldn’t believe what she saw for the shot put results.

“When I saw the stats, my jaw dropped,” she said. “She’s the real winner, because she did it all. She’s amazing.”

Mary said the coaches told her that Gre’Anna was the “life of the party.” She added that Gre’Anna has always been a people person, and that the trip was a wonderful opportunity to interact with her peers.

“Special Olympics is awesome,” Mary said. “They’re just an awesome organization. For her to go out and to stay for a whole week by herself, and they took good care of her, and she just had a ball. She had a blast, and she has not stopped talking about it.”

Willis and Edwards were part of the Special Olympics North Carolina delegation that arrived to Lincoln in style — the athletes and coaches flew in on six private jets.

Special Olympics is an international nonprofit organization that facilitates training and competition for athletes with intellectual disabilities. It was founded by Eunice Kennedy Shriver in 1968, and since then, has grown to serve over 3 million athletes in 170 countries, according to its website.

Special Olympics North Carolina is among the largest programs in the world and serves over 38,000 athletes.

Boucher has been involved with Special Olympics for about five years and says that the organization goes well beyond athletic competition.

“It gives them confidence that they can do so many things,” he said. “They get to be like everybody else. They get to win championships just like everybody else. And it is definitely a self-confidence builder. And also it keeps them healthy, gets them active.

“So many kids are left not to do anything — they don’t run, they don’t go out and play, they have weight issues and everything else. But this helps them athletically, it helps them physically, it helps them with health, it helps them with their self-esteem and a lot of social skills.

“For me, it’s one of my passions. I love it.”