Jesse was so fortunate to have the chance to go to the State Games! He competed Thursday morning in Vinton, Va., outside Roanoke.

He placed 3rd in the Basic 3 program (he competed against girls from Wisconsin, Maryland, New Jersey and Texas, many of whom won at home to qualify).

On Friday evening, we attended the opening ceremonies, which at the last minute were moved indoors, so the state teams didn’t march as planned.

But the Virginia athletes were all called onto the floor for the torch’s arrival and lighting.

At some point, Jesse wandered over to the torch lighting, because he wound up in the front-page picture in the local paper the next morning.

And an amazing part is that by medaling, he qualified to compete in the 2021 State Games in Ames, Iowa!