One of the remarkable American medalists of this 2008 Olympics thus far also provided one of the most sparkling stories in the brief history of the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course here in Terre Haute.
Shalane Flanagan won the bronze medal Saturday (late Friday evening here) in Beijing in the 10,000 meters, becoming the first American woman to medal in the event since 1992.
As a junior running for the University of North Carolina, Flanagan won the first of five NCAA Championships to be contested at the Terre Haute course.
Flanagan’s mother, Cheryl Treworgy, is an Indiana State Athletics Hall of Fame member, and Treworgy was shown extensively on the delayed NBC telecast cheering for her daughter as the focused Flanagan reeled in the third-place runner and went on to break the American 10K record.
Current ISU assistant track and cross country coordinator Geoff Wayton, an ISU alumnus, stays in touch with Treworgy.
“I got all teary eyed watching the camera pan to Cherrie,” said Wayton, who will be the meet director for the NCAA meet this fall. “It’s really fantastic what [Cheryl] went through. I did a project in grad school on what she had to overcome. She got kicked off the track as a young girl. She had to start behind the boys so she wouldn’t humiliate the guys. You see her daughter reaping the benefits of what she had to go through.”
Treworgy, who attended Indianapolis North Central High School, was a pioneer in women’s athletics, particularly running, becoming the first American woman to receive an athletic scholarship. The funding was actually a “talented student scholarship” and the brainchild of Dr. Eleanor Forsythe St. John, an Indiana State physical education teacher.
Originally Cheryl Pedlow, and then Cheryl Bridges when she married as a Sycamore sophomore, Treworgy held the women’s world record in marathon from 1971 to 1973 (2 hours, 49 minutes and 40 seconds).
Women’s running has obviously come a long way since then, and Treworgy’s 27-year-old daughter is at the forefront of today’s top distance runners.
Current North Central girls track coach and ISU All-American cross country runner Jessica Wayton — the former North Central Thunderbird who married Geoff Wayton in July — remembers Flanagan well.
Then Jessica Crowder, she competed in the 2003 NCAA Championships at Des Moines, Iowa, and earned 47th place while breaking a school record with her time of 20:52 in the 6K.
“I never saw her,” Wayton recalled, that is, until watching the replay of the race on television. “I remember watching on TV. There was not one shot of me, but it was cool to watch the whole race, watch Shalane run her race and kind of compare it to mine.”
She also remembers watching Flanagan, who also holds the American record in the 5,000 meters, run to a then-course record performance in 2002.
“I was just in awe of her,” said the English teacher at North Central.
The recent ISU standout has had several opportunities to talk to Flanagan’s mother. Geoff Wayton has invited ISU’s contingent of alumni runners back to campus for a gathering the past two years and Treworgy has attended.
Jessica Wayton enjoyed the conversations she’s been able to have with Treworgy, who is also a teacher.
“She’s a legend, and I have so much in common with her with us both being teachers and the running,” the 26-year-old Wayton said. “She had good advice about keeping students active and moving around even in the classroom.”
Treworgy trained with ISU men’s runners, and when she first got started had to race boys.
“She’s really the first woman to be known for running,” Wayton said. “I remember her saying she was one of the guys, she’d run with the guys.”
ISU head women’s track and cross country coach John Gartland was following Flanagan’s progress, and his memories of Treworgy go back to 1975. Gartland was running the Twin Cities Marathon in St. Paul, Minn., and Treworgy ran the first half of the race as part of her training.
“I got in a rythym with her, and it helped me tremendously,” he said. “It was the first marathon I ever ran and got fourth place so I owe some of that success to her.”
Having Treworgy back to speak to Gartland’s current athletes during an alumni panel last fall was invaluable.
“I thought she was really inspiring to our female student-athletes,” Gartland said. “I think it really opened their eyes. Don’t take for granted what you have, because I think the women from her era really had to work for what they got.”
Jessica Wayton, whose husband has plans to honor Treworgy before this year’s NCAA championship cross country meet, values the link with her community.
“She’s a legend, and now her daughter definitely is,” she said. “It’s great that they both have a connection to ISU. I hope Terre Haute realizes that.”
• Watch Flanagan — Watch Flanagan’s 10,000-meter run on www.nbcolympics.com/video/nbcencore/index.html. The race starts at about the 32-minute mark on the video slugged “Opening Day Track.”
As she crosses the finish line, Flanagan is unsure what place she finished so she’s asking her competitors before someone finally tells her she won the bronze medal.
Then it was off to hug her coach and mother and drape the flag for a celebration jog. Truly unforgettable.
Craig Pearson can be reached by e-mail at craig.pearson@tribstar.com or by phone at (812) 231-4357.
Given to Fly
August 18, 2008
Given to Fly: Bronze medalist has strong ISU ties
- Given to Fly
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GIVEN TO FLY: Come to expect new standards of excellence
Records are definitely meant to be broken; athletes today are faster and stronger than those in the past in many endeavors in athletics.
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GIVEN TO FLY: ISU women have solid recruiting class
The caliber of athletes that the Indiana State women’s basketball coaching staff is bringing in is on an upswing.
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GIVEN TO FLY: Major leaguers John, Dorsett meet up at tonight’s game
Terre Haute’s only two big leaguers of the last 50 years — Tommy John and Brian Dorsett — will catch up with one another today.
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FOOT NOTES: Valley natives perform well on national stage
Several Wabash Valley natives continue to shine on the national track and field scene.
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'Til It's Over: Sycamores ‘in a good place,’ but searching for more in MVC
Can Teri Moren lift Indiana State, last year’s seventh-place team in the Missouri Valley Conference, to one of the league’s contenders in her first year on campus?
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'Til It's Over: Two sets of identical twins should keep North Central baseball a contender
The last high school baseball team standing in the Wabash Valley was the North Central, the Thunderbirds falling short 4-3 in the Class A Semistate on Saturday just one game shy of Victory Field.
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'Til It's Over: Jarvis, Anderson confident Olney, hard work leads to Division I dream
Olney, Ill., population 8,000-plus and known for its population of white squirrels, might not be the dream destination for high school basketball players in Indiana.
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'Til It's Over: Robinson 7-footer more focused in postseason; 6-foot Jones keeps producing
Robinson 7-footer Meyers Leonard is not going to be the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA some day, but his odds of reaching the league are pretty solid if his game continues to evolve as it has during high school.
- 'Til It's Over: ‘Stepping stone’ game points Sycamores in right direction Whether the win comes against a top-25 team or a conference pushover, ending a four-game losing streak is always a relief.
- 'Til It's Over: Indianapolis ISU recruit rolling along in senior season As Indiana State recruit Anna Munn approached Christmas with the Decatur Central basketball team, the senior guard didn’t seem to need much of a wishlist.
- 'Til It's Over: Magic’s still there for '79 Sycamores For the former Indiana State players who visited the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in late November, the weekend was a chance to relive memories with teammates and see Larry Bird’s career with the Sycamores celebrated again.
- CRAIG PEARSON: North has strong history in cross country state finals Vigo County is home to just four IHSAA state championships in team sports. Most recently, Terre Haute South won girls titles in basketball (2002) and tennis (2001).
- 'Till It's Over: It’s been rough year but no need to break up Cubs' core Chicago Cubs general manager Jim Hendry is only in the first year of a three-year contract, and aren’t back-to-back division championships enough to keep him around despite this year’s season filled with bad luck?
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'Til It's Over: Hansbrough, Hibbert give Pacers glimpse of future
You might have heard of the Indiana Pacers’ 2009 first-round draft pick. He was on the television once in a while during his four-year career at North Carolina.
- 'Til It's Over: Bertoli, Moore put on show in abundance of events “Anthony and Erica” may not have the marketing capability of “Dan and Dave,” but neither of Indiana State’s outstanding multi-event participants had let-down performances this weekend in the Missouri Valley Conference Championships.
- ‘Walking wounded’: ISU seniors return to provide spark All three ISU seniors will graduate in May, and all three will be in uniform today as Indiana State battles Bradley in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament quarterfinals.
- Given to Fly: Northview standout runner Thacker coming to ISU Doc Brown told an old-timer in a saloon in “Back to the Future III” that despite having automobiles in the future people run for recreation.
- Given to Fly: Schilli’s Rodman-like performance aids ISU With Indiana State’s women’s basketball team ranking eighth in the Missouri Valley Conference in field-goal percentage (36.5), the Sycamores need as many shot attempts as possible to maintain their standing on top of the league.
- Given to Fly: A classic in every sense of the word What tournament director and co-founder Gary Fears had in mind when creating the tournament came to fruition Tuesday. Marshall, with an enrollment of 438 students, became the smallest school to win the Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic in the ninth season of the tourney.
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Given to Fly: ISU women should build confidence off strong outing
Indiana State did not pull off the monumental upset Saturday against No. 23 Kansas State, but the Wildcats are —aside from Connecticut in 2005 — the best team the Sycamores have played in the Jim Wiedie era.
- Given to Fly: ISU women's hoops team slides onto commercial radio Coach Jim Wiedie expects the Indiana State women’s basketball team to have a bit of a retro feel this season, meaning the Sycamores have the potential to get back to creating havoc with their full-court press.
- Given to Fly: ISU vets hope to prove pundits wrong Indiana State’s only two seniors were surprised to see they were picked ahead of just three Missouri Valley Conference women’s basketball teams Tuesday morning.
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Footnotes: In first marathon, former Sycamore comes out a winner
Indiana State graduate Dani Prince made her debut in the event with a victory in the Columbus Marathon on Sunday.
Prince’s goal was a time under 2 hours and 50 minutes, and she ran a 2:48.56. -
Given To Fly: ISU volleyball turning things around
It was an extremely busy weekend for Indiana State athletics this weekend.
- Footnotes: Here’s hoping perfect weather is still around for Nationals in November The weather made for a perfect fall afternoon Saturday at LaVern Gibson Championship Course. For what it’s worth, the Farmer’s Almanac calls for more sunny conditions from Nov. 20-24, with the NCAA Championships falling on the 24th this year.
- Terre Haute natives cherish memories of ‘House that Ruth Built’ Yankee Stadium was packed as usual on Easter Sunday in 1979. George Steinbrenner’s Yankees were one loss away from being swept by the Milwaukee Brewers to start the season. That was no way for the two-time defending World Series champions to perform, so the boss had a conversation with his new veteran left-handed starting pitcher prior to the game.
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Footnotes: Oregon men and women have strangehold on preseason NCAA cross countryrankings
The Oregon men and women were almost both unanimous picks as the No. 1 teams in the nation in the preseason cross country national rankings released recently.
- Given to Fly: Bronze medalist has strong ISU ties One of the remarkable American medalists of this 2008 Olympics thus far also provided one of the most sparkling stories in the brief history of the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course here in Terre Haute.
- Former ISU QB gets back to Amarillo This week, Indiana State signed its most highly-touted football prospect in years, and former quarterback Julian Reese is ripping it up for the Amarillo Dusters of Arena2.
- Indiana State track sending strong group to NCAA regional Three sophomore women and three senior men lead a large Indiana State contingent of track and field athletes into the NCAA Mideast Regional this weekend at Fayetteville, Ark.
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