May BLOG ENTRY
It is less than 100 days until the Summer Olympics in Paris and only 2 months until the Olympic trials to qualify for the Olympics. Dakotah has already qualified in the Women’s Marathon and Maggie and Amanda are continuing to compete in meets leading up to the Olympic trials.
Amanda competed in an Early Bird meet the first part of April at the University of South Dakota, the Running on Hope meet at the U of M and most recently at an Open Meet at Mankato State. Later in May she will compete in the Ironwood in Idaho and a Throw Meet in Oklahoma. To qualify for the Olympic Trials on June 21st-30th she must be in the top 24 discus throwers in the Country or reach 58.50 meters, which is 191 feet 11.15 inches, to automatically qualify for the Trials.
Maggie has already qualified in the shot put but is continuing to train and compete leading up to the Olympic trials. She competed in Scotland at the World Championships in February, in Miramar, Florida on April 6th and is currently in China at the Diamond League Meets being held from April 20dth through the 27th. Besides competing in the shot put she will be competing in the hammer throw in a couple of meets to qualify for the Trials in both the shot put and hammer throw. Coincidentally her dad, Bruce, also competed at the Olympic Trials in the hammer throw and came one inch short of qualifying for the Olympics several years ago.
Dakotah is continuing her training and was able to run the Olympic course in Paris at a Puma event in early April. On April 13th she was back in the states running a BAA 5K event and in May she will compete in the USATF 25 km Championship in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her June events include the NYRR Mini 10K in New York Central Park on June 8th followed by the Gary Bjorklund Half Marathon on June 22 in Duluth, Mn.
These dedicated young St. Francis grads are continuing their training and competing in pursuit of their dreams while maintaining jobs. Congratulations to all three on their Journey to Paris following those dreams. GO SAINTS!!