Topic: News: Cheryl Haworth and Natalie Woolfolk inspire youth

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Cheryl Haworth and Natalie Woolfolk inspire youth
By Jane Nordberg

HOUGHTON — First hour, English. Second hour, math. Third hour, meeting three Olympic athletes.

An atypical day Monday for Houghton middle- and high-school students, who got to hear the inspiring stories of Cheryl Haworth, Natalie Woolfolk and Sheila Taormina’s ascent to the Olympic podium.

“When you look at us, we’re all different sizes,” said heavyweight division weightlifter Haworth with a nod to her colleagues, lightweight division weightlifter Woolfolk and swimmer/triathlete/pentathlete Taormina. “What we have in common is that we share the same dream of being all that we can be.”

The athletes’ visit to Houghton, and that of their counterparts, gymnast Shannon Miller and hockey player Angela Ruggiero, was sponsored by Keweenaw Memorial Medical Center and Michigan Technological University as part of the “Sharing the Dream” tour. Miller and Ruggiero spent Monday morning at Calumet High School, similarly inspiring students on the north end of the peninsula.

Following an introductory videotape detailing the athletes’ success, the three Olympians told the packed Houghton gymnasium how hard they had to work to achieve their individual goals.

“In 1988, I tried out for the Olympics and I didn’t make it. I didn’t make the 1992 Olympics, either,” said Taormina. “By the time 1996 came around, I was hoping I would break my arm or get a terrible illness so I wouldn’t have to compete.”

Fortunately, she didn’t get what she wished for, and went on to win a gold medal in the 4x200 freestyle. Two more Olympics followed, this time on the triathlon team. Next year in Beijing, Taormina hopes to medal in the pentathlon, making her the first athlete ever to compete in a third sport in the Olympic Games.

Woolfolk is also hoping to compete at the Beijing Games and take a medal in the 63kg weightlifting division. At 5-foot 3-inches and 135 pounds, there was an audible gasp from the audience when they learned Woolfolk could lift 260 pounds from the floor over her head.

“What Natalie’s not telling you is that she holds all of the records in her weight class and also the one above hers,” Haworth said.

Haworth, too, impressed the crowd with her accomplishments. The former softball player-turned-heavyweight weightlifter squats 495 pounds, making her the strongest woman in the Western Hemisphere.

Although all three encouraged the students to attend Monday night’s events at the MTU Student Development Complex to learn more about the five athletes and their individual sports, Taormina said their message wasn’t limited to prospective Olympians.

“If you’re not interested in sports, that’s OK,” she said. “Whatever your passion is, whether it’s theater, music, academics, the same thing applies. It takes effort to achieve your dreams.”

After the presentation, students were allowed to ask questions of the athletes, which ranged from how much Haworth and Woolfolk can bench press (they don’t), to the athletes’ nutritional habits (no hydrogenated oils). Taormina got a surprise visit from Wayne Henry, who asked whether she took easy courses in high school, knowing full well he was her advanced placement math teacher downstate before he moved to the Upper Peninsula. “Did I get an ‘A’?” she asked Henry after his identity registered. He answered yes, with an embarrassed Taormina admitting she hadn’t seen him “in about 20 years.”

The trio then posed for photographs and signed autographs for staff and students, including seventh grader Logan Heikkila, who muscled his way through a crowd to get Haworth to sign his arm.

When asked why Haworth and why the arm, Heikkila employed a deadpan grin.

“Dude. Strongest woman in the Western Hemisphere. Hello?”

For more information on the Sharing the Dream tour, go to www.stantonshade.com .