Sporting a Superman logo on his prosthetic running leg, Kortney Clemons races his coach at the Multi-Sports Complex's track.

Last summer, Clemons (junior-recreation management) and Rohan Murphy (senior-kinesology) qualified for the 2006 World Championships for disabled athletes at a competition in Myrtle Beach, S.C. In May, they will travel to Seoul, South Korea, and compete on the World USA Powerlifting Team.

While he can lift more than 300 pounds, Murphy, who was born without legs, said he prefers competing with the varsity wrestling team. This year, he has a 3-5 record.

"I started wrestling in ninth grade. I like the competition," Murphy said. "In disabled sports, there's an attitude that everyone is a winner, but I like the competition of the able-bodied sports."

Murphy said the competition doesn't treat him any differently because he's disabled.

"They might try harder to beat me, but in the end, the best man wins," Murphy said.

While Clemons has participated in only one competition, he said he started lifting while on his high school football team.

"I always did athletics before I became disabled," he said. "But I never lifted to this standard."

Last year, Clemons served in the Army and worked as a medic in Iraq. With about a month left of service, he and three other medics were helping soldiers in an overturned vehicle when enemy forces detonated an explosive device.

"My right leg got mangled pretty bad and had to be taken off above the knee," Clemons said. "I didn't decide to have it amputated. I just woke up in a hospital in Germany and learned what happened."

The explosion killed the other three medics, Clemons said.

After rehabilitation at a hospital in San Antonio, Clemons started lifting and running with the Penn State paralympic program.

"I could just walk to the mailbox each morning and not do anything else," Clemons said. "But I'm afraid that I wouldn't live as long. I don't want to just give up."

Clemons is the first soldier in the program, and coach Teri Jordan said she hopes other disabled soldiers will start competing for Penn State.

"He's pretty strong for his weight," she said. "Since he used to be a football player, he's fast, too."

In the spring, Clemons and two other parathletes will compete in home varsity track meets.

"He'll be running against able-bodied athletes," Jordan said. "He'll be a little slower than the other runners. He's still getting used to his prosthesis and can't go around the turns as well."

While Clemons is the only disabled runner, his paralympic teammates possess international track experience.

Shot-putter Meghan Sooy (graduate-counselor education) said she has traveled to Birmingham, England, and Sydney, Australia, for track meets.

"I've made a lot of friends, and playing wheelchair sports is a fun way to get together," Sooy said. "Before I did wheelchair sports, I was a little shy."

Now, Sooy, who has cerebral palsy, said she is known for her loud cheering on the sidelines.

"I got voted 'most likely to replace the PA system' for my cheering in Australia," Sooy said. "But if I wasn't cheering on my teammates, they would wonder why."

In the wheelchair races, Maggie Redden (junior-communications) finished second in the 100-meter race at the National Junior Disability Championships in Tampa, Fla.

Redden, who contracted polio at a young age, said she loves competing and has made several friends through wheelchair sports.

"It's a lot of fun," she said. "I started racing when I was 10 but never took it seriously until I was in high school."

In between timing Redden and Clemons, Jordan said she loves the dedication of the disabled athletes.

"They never take anything for granted," Jordan said. "It's great to see them aspire and succeed on the playing field."