Small World, Eh?

It turns out Margaret Hoelzer isn’t the only athlete with North Alabama ties competing in Beijing.

Toyin Augustus is a Nigerian 100 meter hurdler who prepped at and ran track for Grissom High School (Number One and Three’s alma mater) prior to competing at Penn State.

Also, Julianne Kirchner is a 50 meter freestyle swimmer from the Marshall Islands whose parents grew up in North Alabama and attended UNA.

(UPDATE 8/16: You can read how her race went here).

Why the Marshall Islands? Julianne (age 16) has lived most of her life on Kwajalein Island, and if you’re from Huntsville, you probably know at least one rocket scientist in your circle who has spent some time in that distant atoll.

Her family took a sabbatical a few years back in Huntsville and for a while she was a part of our homeschooling group and an acquaintance of Number Two Son.

Small world, eh?

2 Comments

  1. That Girl

    I would’ve been at UNA with her parents but I don’t remember the name. Maybe I’ll pull out the old yearbooks…. if I can find what box they’re in!

  2. Mike the Eyeguy

    I keep mine under lock and key.

Comments are closed.