Community support has been the backbone of Dani Bunch’s training since she was a seventh grade student at Mahomet-Seymour Junior High School.
Now, the Big 10 Female Athlete of the Year and Purdue University graduate needs support from her hometown family and friends as she begins to train for the 2016 Olympics.
“I don’t think I would have made it this far without the Mahomet community,” she said. “I had a lot of really good coaches going through the (M-S) program from seventh grade to high school. I was in a really fortunate situation because a lot of athletes don’t have coaches who are invested.”
As a young track and field athlete, Bunch did not know if she wanted to continue throwing the shot put and discuss–or even if she was doing it right.
“The support I had growing up was a good sign that I should keep going,” she said.
Bunch even appreciated the encouraging words that came from Mahomet as she broke Purdue University Track and Field Records, competed at the NCAA Championships and was named an All-American eight times during her five years at Purdue.
During her senior year, Bunch finished fifth in the shot put and third in the weight throw at the NCAA Championships. While Bunch ranked eighth nationally in the weight throw this year, she will pursue qualifying for the Olympics as a shot put thrower.
Bunch threw her best 57 ¾ this year, ranking 15th nationally. She believes she’ll need to throw another five to six feet to make the Olympic team.
After the August 2 fundraiser at Main Street Wingery, Bunch will return to West Lafayette to begin training with her coach, Keith McBride. During Bunch’s five years at Purdue, she worked with three different coaches.
“I’ve had a taste of every different style and coaching techniques out there,” she said. “I think he works best for me because he was a good blend of coach and life coach, in a way. He was concerned about your athletic performance, but he was also concerned about how your life is going because that’s going to affect how you compete.”
Staying with McBride was the “easy choice” for Bunch, as was training at Purdue where she’ll have equipment and resources to help her achieve her goals.
Instead of training to peak for tournaments as she did in college, Bunch will begin a strenuous conditioning program, which will last two years. With a focus solely on shot put, she will be able to compete in some meets with Purdue, but will also travel to smaller professional meets on her own.
“It will be a different process because it’s over a two year span,” she said. “It might be discouraging at first because I’m expecting huge results right away. In the beginning, the meet results will reflect the training. I will get lower marks in the first meets because I’ll be training harder. I’ll be worn down and tired.”
Because professional track athletes only make about $15,000 a year, Bunch will also hold a part-time job to pay for her living expenses. The money raised over the next few years will help her get to bigger meets in Texas, New Mexico, Oregon and California where she will be able to gauge where she is in the process.
As her margins grow, Bunch will be able to apply for sponsorships through Nike and Adidas, although they are difficult to come by.
“I’m not a huge fan of fundraising because I don’t like asking people for money,” she said. “But I have a feeling I’ll have to keep up with it. The meets will be expensive.”
Bunch will be available at the Main Street Wingery from 2 to 7 p.m. on Saturday. The Wingery will donate 10 percent of all sales to Bunch. There will also be a silent auction and 50/50 raffle during this time. John Coppess, Jeff Arrigo, Doty and Dody Frazier and Cliff Stoker plan to perform for the benefit.
Donations to the “Dani Bunch Elite Training Benefit Fund” can also be made at all Busey Bank locations and on Go Fund Me.
