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Karie Luce to serve on state Special Olympics board

Karie Luce dead lifts 225 pounds in the weight room at the downtown Spokane YMCA on Tuesday. Luce has been named Eastern Washingtons athlete representative on the Special Olympics state board. (Liz Kishimoto / The Spokesman-Review)
Deborah Chan Correspondent
Karie Luce dead lifts 225 pounds in the weight room at the downtown Spokane YMCA on Tuesday. Luce has been named Eastern Washingtons athlete representative on the Special Olympics state board. (Liz Kishimoto / The Spokesman-Review)

Special Olympic elite athlete Karie Luce, 28, of Spokane Valley, has been chosen to represent Eastern Washington as a board member on the nonprofit Special Olympics Washington.

Luce, a Special Olympics athlete for 20 years, has earned gold and silver medals in several national and two world games, the most recent in Ireland in 2003. Last year she carried the Olympic torch in downtown Spokane for the national games.

At 6 feet 3 inches tall with a lean build, she’s an impressive powerlifter who can benchpress more than 80 pounds and dead lift more than 200 pounds. She’ll be competing at nationals in Ames, Iowa, this summer and hopes to qualify for the next international games in Beijing in 2007.

Her calm demeanor and organizational abilities have earned her much praise. She enjoys assisting when not competing and helps chaperone adult athletes, who sometimes become stressed with travel. “She’s considered a real asset,” said her mother, Patty Luce.

Ecstatic when she got her confirmation letter, Luce said, “I was surprised and shocked, really; I didn’t expect to be chosen.”

Patty Luce said, “She met me at the door when I came home, and cried, ‘I got it, Mom, I got it! All my life I wanted to be on the board.’ She was almost in tears. It’s a huge honor to have a voice in an international organization such as Special Olympics; I’m not sure how much Karie realizes this.”

Luce’s trainer, Pat Gray, who has a team of 14 Special Olympics athletes, said, “She’s been a great competitor and fine representative for Special Olympics and we’re pretty pleased to have her on the board. It’s been great seeing her accomplishing her goals.”

Luce will serve a three-year term and participate in public relations and fundraising activities, be on a committee or task force, attend an annual retreat and represent the board in competition. She’ll also be participating in a video for Fox Sports as a Special Olympics athlete.

As a board member, Luce represents herself, athletes and Community Colleges of Spokane, where she works about 15 hours a week as a classroom assistant at SFCC’s Institute of Extended Learning for adults with physical and mental disabilities. She chaperones their basketball team and plays on their softball team.

Members of the Special Olympics Washington board include representatives from corporate and private sectors, government, school districts and other areas, and family members. Athletes have been included for about five years.

Karie Luce eagerly anticipates her term.

“It will give me experience in spreading information about Special Olympics, life skills and public speaking, and communicating with the public and other organizations. I want to spread the word about how fun Special Olympics is for kids who want to be in athletics, but can’t do their own sports in schools, like basketball, track and field. This is a good way for them to do what they love to do.”