From left: Shawn Magee, Jeremy Bahr-Worley, Amanda Davis, Philip Dunn
Concordia Racewalkers Meet with Olympian Philip Dunn Prior to Nationals
BEAVERTON, Ore.— Concordia University’s walkers prepared for the NAIA National Championships this past weekend with help from three-time Olympic racewalker Philip Dunn. Dunn came to Portland for the annual Wonders of Walking Racewalk Retreat organized by Judy Heller from May 16-18.
Dunn, who qualified for the Olympics once again with a “B” standard the previous weekend in the 50-kilometer distance at the IAAF World Cup in Russia, helped fine-tune Concordia’s walkers with advice and coaching over the three-day retreat.
“All three showed a distinct improvement in their form and their enthusiasm for the event makes me believe that the best is yet to come for all three walkers in the future,” Dunn said. “It is nice to know that Concordia University promotes and develops quality racewalkers that are able to compete on the national level. These kids can take their walking to the next level if they continue to show the progress and desire that they did this weekend.”
At the NAIA national championships held outside of St. Louis, CU’s Jeremy Bahr-Worley placed ninth in the 5,000-meter event with a time of 25:26.58, a five-second improvement over his former school record. Shawn Magee went on to place 13th with a 26:56.95 and Amanda Davis finished in 12th place with a 17:47.65 over 3,000 meters.