Despite heavy heart, Lovett impresses

From the Pan Am Games in Toronto. Published July 25, 2015.

TORONTO — Never mind the finish.

Just getting to the starting block was a victory for Eddie Lovett.

The U.S. Virgin Islands hurdler woke up and checked Facebook on race day Friday morning only to find out his younger sister had been shot and killed overnight in South Florida.

A few hours later, Lovett was crouched down at the starting line at Toronto’s York University, racing to pay tribute to DelShonna Billy, who was 22 and had two children.

“My head wasn’t really in it,” Lovett said afterward. “I just wanted to race hard and honor her.”

Running on pure heart, Lovett still managed a fourth-place finish in his eight-man heat, finishing the 110-meter hurdles in 13.65 seconds, despite clipping the final three hurdles and staggering to the finish line.

Rolla's McMillan chasing dream in London:

Published July 22, 2012 in the days leading up to London Summer Olympics.

If in the upcoming days you spot Chantae McMillan, an Olympian from Rolla, you might be surprised about her favorite treat: A heaping portion of pie supplied by a local bakery, A Slice of Pie.

Besides, to get the world-class physique of the 2006 Rolla High School graduate, one probably shouldn’t be spending too much time in the small pastry shop on Kingshighway Street.

However, McMillan had one request for her parents, Badger and Peggy, before they drove to visit her in Ohio ahead of the Olympic Games.

“If my parents know me at all,” McMillan wrote on her Twitter account, “they will bring me a slice of my favorite pie when they come!”

McMillan will be competing in the London Olympics and representing the United States in the heptathlon.

At the U.S. Olympic Trials last month in Eugene, Ore., McMillan qualified as the third of three to make the team in the heptathlon, which combines the 200- and 800-meter runs, 100-meter hurdles, shot put, javelin, high jump and long jump.

Olympians help Willard shine bright: Town was well-represented at 1996 Summer Games

Published July 22, 2012 a few days before the Opening Ceremonies of the 2012 London Olympics.

Only 646 athletes represented the United States in the 1996 Summer Olympics as the modern games celebrated its 100th anniversary in Atlanta.

Two were from Willard, a small Greene County town which had about 3,000 residents at the time.



Both elite athletes acknowledged the coincidence this week, and said, with the London games approaching this week, the memories are in the forefront of their minds.


And like many former Olympians, Lori Endicott-Vandersnick and Jason Pyrah are doing their part to keep the Olympics, and overall fitness, in the forefront of the national psyche.