POLAND – Two athletes preparing to leave for China were honored Friday at Poland Regional High School with Olympic music, speeches and hearty applause from 700-plus students.

The two Special Olympians also were “knighted” by their principal in a special ceremony.

Kala Emery, 20, of Minot and Jacquelyn Guiseley, 15, of Raymond will compete in the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai. They’re two of four athletes representing Maine. Emery will compete in track, Guiseley in equestrian.

The two other Maine students are Keith Draper of Greene, aquatics; and Robin Sibley of Bangor, bocce. Sixteen family members will join Maine’s four delegates in China, according to Special Olympics Maine.

It’s exciting and unusual to have two from the same school get to the international games, said Lynda Simmons, special education team leader at the Poland high school. “This is huge,” she said.

At the rally on Friday, Principal Bill Doughty knighted Jacqueyn Guiseley as an “esteemed equestrian” and Kala Emery as a “terrific track runner.”

“We are the Poland Knights. The school’s mascot is the knight,” Doughty said in an interview. When a student achieves a special accomplishment, “we knight them like in the old days.”

It was the second time in two years that Poland students had been knighted, Doughty said.

The rally ended with the athletes being “clapped out” of the gym, another Poland tradition. The entire school stood and gave enthusiastic applause as the athletes walked out.

In China, 7,500 athletes from more than 160 countries will compete. The world games will run from Oct. 2 to Oct. 11. Emery and Guiseley plan to arrive a week early and stay with a Chinese host family. In addition to endless hours of riding or running, the athletes have learned some Chinese language, Simmons said.

It is the first time that China has hosted the world Special Olympics, and only the second time the games have been held outside the United States, Simmons said.

Cathy Emery, Kala’s mother, said her daughter has been involved in Special Olympics Maine for the past several years. To go to the world games she had to win a medal at the state competition, then apply to the world competition.

Kala is excited, her mother said. “She’s getting antsy. She’s done really well. This is an awesome achievement.”

In her essay, Guiseley said she began riding horses when she was 5 years old, and that she has a kind of high-functioning autism. “I still love to do all the same things that teenage girls like to do, it just takes me longer to learn,” Guiseley wrote.

She cried “happy tears” when she found out she was selected, Guiseley wrote. “I am going to do my best and hope to bring home some gold.”