Joshua Ullestad stood in the middle of the Iowa Falls-Alden High School track with shot put in hand, preparing for his final throw of the practice.

Ullestad shuffled his feet forward with the shot put wedged between his neck and his right shoulder. A grimace crossed his face as his arm exploded forward, sending the 12-pound shotput into flight.

“32 feet! Great throw, Josh,” said a volunteer who was measuring each throw.

It was Ullestad’s longest throw of the day by five feet.

“Wait, did she say 32 feet? Seriously? That’s crazy,” said Zac Hunt, a recent graduate of Iowa Falls-Alden, who was observing the day’s practice.

Ullestad, a 16-year-old sophomore at Iowa Falls-Alden, has autism and is preparing for the Iowa Special Olympics.

“I’m a little nervous, but with all this training we’ve been doing, I think I might do all right. I mean, once the Olympics get started, it’s just fun,” Ullestad said. “To tell you the truth, my mom dragged me to the first one, but then it turned out to be a really good experience.”

Ullestad’s mom, Robin Sampson, acts as both a cheerleader and a coach during competition.

“She’s kind of like my coach and she is one determined person, but sometimes she can be a little stubborn. That’s good though because I know she wants me to do my best,” Ullestad said. “I get a little nervous sometimes, but when someone is cheering for you, you get a little more confidence.”

With the help of Iowa Falls-Alden special education teacher Cynthia Brown and several trained volunteers, Ullestad and seven other Iowa Falls-Alden students were able to qualify for Special Olympics.

During recreational time, Brown and her volunteers do trials with each participant, recording the results of each attempt. After many different trials, Brown sends the collective results to the people at the Special Olympics Central District, who categorize the participants according to their skill level.

Participants from the Central District, such as Ullestad, then compete at a regional event in Marshalltown, Ia. for the right to go to the state-wide Special Olympics.

“I think it’s just a really great way to get kids who wouldn’t normally be involved in athletics to be able to compete, because they just don’t get those kinds of opportunities in their regular high school, so it’s just a really cool thing,” said Sampson. “You get to see a lot of people that are in the same situation so it’s a great deal. You see some people that are excited just to finish, even if they finish last. You see them jumping up and down and giving high fives, so it’s pretty cool.”

As for Ullestad’s shuffling shot put technique, he credits the throwing coach for the Iowa Falls-Alden track team, Derrick Elman, with inspiring it.

“It’s actually called the shuffle. Mr. Elman taught that to me when he practices with me after school,” Ullestad said. “He was my fifth grade teacher a long time ago, and he is a pretty good guy. He’s probably one of the nicest guys I know.”

Elman, also an assistant coach on the high school football team, said that Josh’s positive attitude is infectious.

“Josh is a great kid, he always has a smile on his face,” Elman said. “He’s the kind of kid that, when he was in fifth grade, he could always bring you up, even when you were having a bad day. He could always say some little joke or just say something to you that would put a smile on your face and change your mood at any time.”

The Special Olympics begin for Ullestad and his fellow competitors on the Iowa State University campus on May 26 and run until Saturday, May 28.