Local athlete honored at Oregon Sports Awards | People

Meagan Paxton, a 30-year-old Special Olympics Oregon athlete from Gladstone, was selected as the 2010 Lou Burge Special Olympics Athlete of the Year.

She received the honor among other Oregon athletes like Brandon Roy and Ndamukong Suh.

Paxton, who works for United Western Grocers, has been involved in a number of sports including aquatics, basketball, cross-country skiing, cycling, gymnastics, soccer, softball and tennis. She has competed as part of the Special Olympics Team USA in four World games, is a Shriver Greatness Award winner and received Varsity letters as a student at Rex Putnam High School in track and swimming. Paxton said her proudest moment was competing in Nagano, Japan with Team USA in 2005.

Paxton's next competition is March 14 at the Howard M. Terpenning Recreation Complex in Beaverton (50 NW 158th Avenue), where she will be playing basketball in the Winter Regionals Games.