By FRED KRONER
fred@mahometnews.com
Dani Bunch recognized a way to build relationships and form friendships after moving from Champaign to Mahomet as a seventh-grader.
“Three sports,” Bunch said. “I did it to keep myself busy, to socialize and get to know people.”
Six years later, graduating from Mahomet-Seymour as part of the Class of 2009, Bunch was regarded as the top female multi-sport athlete to come through the district.
She was a two-time IHSA shot put state champion in track and field, a News-Gazette All-Area second-team selection in basketball and a first-team all-Corn Belt Conference choice in volleyball.
“I definitely benefited from all the sports,” Bunch said. “It broadens your athletic ability and skills. They all feed into each other.
“In volleyball, we did a lot of jumping and distance running. In basketball, we did a lot of sprinting.”
A decade after leaving M-S, Bunch is still competing at a high level. She is the reigning women’s U.S. indoor national champion in the shot put and is training full-time in Michigan in hopes of representing the USA in the 2020 Olympics.
Bunch will be one of four inductees in the third class of the Mahomet-Seymour Education Foundation Hall of Fame. She was chosen in her first year of eligibility.
The induction ceremony will occur in conjunction with the M-S homecoming football game against Mount Zion on Sept. 27. Also entering the Hall are Ryan Berger, Robert Handlin and Brett Melton.
They will be profiled separately..
It’s still to be determined whether Bunch will be in attendance.
If she is selected for the U.S. Women’s National Team — which will not be known until late July — she’ll be in Doha, Qutar for the 2019 world championships, which start on Sept. 28.
“Either way, it’s a win-win,” Bunch said.
**
In her younger years, Bunch focused on basketball and softball, with some time set aside for tennis in the summer.
As a seventh-grader in a new school district, Bunch said, “I wanted to try something different.”
She opted to give track and field a shot as her spring sport. Tom Shallenberger was the junior high school girls’ coach.
“It was lots and lots and lots of conditioning,” Bunch said. “I regretted being on the team.
“On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, we had to be at the high school at 6 a.m. to lift. I thought it was really intense. We had to do a mile warmup, and I hated that.”
One thing kept her going.
Barely two months after picking up a the 4-kilo (8.8-pound) shot for the first time, Bunch was the IESA junior high seventh-grade state runner-up.
She tossed the weighted ball 31 feet.
Any thoughts of returning to softball dissipated, but not immediately.
Tom Willard, the high school throws coach for 25 years — more than 20 of which were as a volunteer — made a one-time exception for Bunch.
“Her eighth-grade year, she was undecided between softball and track, Willard recalled. “I tried to recruit her to stay in track. She’s the only one where I talked to the parents about doing track instead of another sport.
“I told Debbie (her mother), ‘I don’t know how good she is in softball, but I know she is a Division I track athlete.’ “
That spring, Dani Bunch was the eighth-grade state champion (with a 35-8 1/4 toss) and was competing above her age level. The junior high track staff helped her to get more instruction.
“They recommended that I work with the high school group,” Bunch said. “They thought I needed more attention.”
She came under the tutelage of Willard, who helped her develop into a two-time high school champion as a junior and as a senior.
Bunch went on to achieve more success at Purdue, including winning the indoor weight throw as a redshirt freshman in 2011.
In retrospect, she acknowledged, “Softball was easy to give up. The shot clicked for me.”
She was an nine-time collegiate All-American, counting indoors and outdoors. Bunch set Purdue school records in both the shot put and the weight throw.
**
When he watched her throw in seventh-grade, Willard was convinced that Bunch could be special.
“Spectacular,” he said. “Her size was one indicator, but the real key is how fast their arm is, how fast they can move from a stationary position point to the release.
“She had tremendous arm speed.”
While he supports — and encourages — athletes to participate in multiple sports in high school, he was confident that Bunch was on track to improve immensely in college.
“I knew she’d get stronger when she wasn’t doing three sports and had time in the weight room,” he said, “and I knew she’d be a success in college because of how hard she works.”
Her bench press of 320 pounds makes her “amazingly strong,” Willard said. “And, she is strong in the leg lifts. She has worked hard to get to be a world-class athlete.”
Her diligence in the weight room is why Bunch made an impact as a redshirt freshman at Purdue in 2011.
“Underclassmen should never be able to win a championship, but I won the (Big Ten) Conference title indoors and that opened the doors of possibilities for me,” Bunch said. “That made it more realistic to pursue a Team USA spot.”
**
Since competing in the Olympic Trials in 2016, many changes have occurred in Bunch’s life.
She is now married (her name is Dani Hill), living in a different state, practicing in a new facility and has become a homeowner. She has tried to train on her own or by communicating with her coach by phone and video.
Bunch is currently training six days a week with a coach in Michigan, Ralph Neal.
“From what I have read about him, I would say he is the Michigan equivalent of her high school coach, Tom Willard,” Debbie Bunch said.
Dani Bunch remembers back to when she first put her dreams into words.
“It’s pretty hard to say out loud, ‘I’m pursuing an Olympic spot,’ “ she said. “It’s hard to think of such a big goal coming from a small town.”
And yet, her success over a prolonged period of time confirms she’s consistently one of the nation’s premier throwers.
“It sounds weird, but with the success, I know I have the ability and there’s no reason I shouldn’t aim for that,” she said.
At her best, Bunch is at an elite level.
When she hit her career-best (64 feet, 5 1/4 inches) at the USATF Outdoor Championships in 2017 in Sacramento, Cal., she placed second, but finished ahead of the 2016 Olympic shot put champion, Michelle Carter (whose best that day was 63-4 1/2).
In 2017, Bunch’s effort was the second-best in the world for women.
“It’s a tribute to my Mahomet career,” Bunch said. “I had no idea what I was doing, but I had coaches who were reassuring and gave me good reinforcement.
“Our training in high school, we were there for a reason. It wasn’t like a social hour. Our program was tuned into what we were trying to achieve and that set me up well for college.
“Morning workouts were not new for me. And now, post-college, when I’m doing it on my own, I recall the coaches who built me up.”
The Bulldogs’ track head coach, during Bunch’s prep career, was Bonnie Moxley. Willard was the throws coach.
“I had a lot more resources that people don’t necessarily have,” Bunch said. “I had good coaches that put me far above other people in the area.”
**
Moxley recalls more than the medals Bunch won. What stands out more for her is the attitude displayed by the then-teenager.
“Dani was a true leader. She demonstrated team before self at all times,” Moxley said. “I will never forget Dani’s battle for the state record in the shot her junior year. She threw a state-record distance, then her opponent did the same.
“They continued this pattern for all three throws (in the finals), each time, a group of officials being called to the event to verify that a state record had been set. Needless to say, it was unnerving for everyone, parents, coaches and teammates.
“Yet in the midst of this high pressure situation, Dani left the throwing area and ventured to the other side of the track to cheer for teammate Amy Clawson, who was competing in the 3,200-meter run (and placed fifth). Dani was the team member that would speak up and inspire others when needed. She faced her share of challenges with nagging injuries, all the while continuing to be positive at practice. She was — and still is — ‘one of a kind.’ “
The IHSA’s list of all-time state records shows that four of the top six marks in the girls’ shot put are still held by Bunch, including the record mark of 51-0 3/4.
In all, Bunch won five medals at IHSA state outdoor medals, starting with a fourth-place finish in the shot put as a sophomore. In the discus, she took ninth as a junior and was the state runner-up as a senior.
**
Bunch works out six days a week, between four and five hours per day, at Zeeland East High School, near her home in Grand Haven, Mich.
Her day off is Saturday.
“I do two hours of lifting or cardio and two to three hours of throwing or drilling,” she said.
She throws into a net, so she is unable to chart how far her attempts travel.
That’s fine with her.
“That’s beneficial to me,” she said. “I would get so caught up on distance. Now, I focus more on body position.
“The way the ball releases, I have a good idea if it carried or not.”
Her competitive season will start with the indoor U.S. championships that begin on Feb. 24 in Staten Island, N.Y.
The season will conclude in October, but she hasn’t confirmed which meets she will enter in between.
Bunch, who will turn 28 in May, is looking for a bounce-back season to give her momentum and a positive mindset heading into the Olympic Trials in about 18 months.
“Last year was challenging,” she said. “It was a rough year, by my standards.”
After winning the women’s indoor national championship in March, 2018, she ended 12th in the outdoor version of the same meet.
Making the Olympic team, however, is not based on an accumulation of great performances.
“You train for four years,” Bunch said. “They have them (the Olympic Trials) about a month before The Games and it all comes down to that one day.”
**
Regardless of what occurs in her quest for an Olympic berth, Dani Bunch will soon face a life without track and field.
“After years of unpredictable schedules from track, I’m actually looking forward to working a 9-5 job,” she said. “Not sure what that may be yet.”
Her degree from Purdue is in criminal justice. In March, she will begin a post-graduate program in human Resources.
There could be other changes as a new decade arrives.
“My husband (Zack) and I plan on starting a family following the 2020 Games,” Bunch said.
Her husband, who works as an Industrial Machine/Boiler Technician, held the Michigan high school record in the shot put at (67-1 1/2) until 2017.
M-S Education Foundation Hall-of Famers
Class of 2019
Ryan Berger 1998
Dani Bunch Hill 2009
Robert ‘Moose’ Handlin Coach
Brett Melton 2000
Class of 2018
Craig Buchanan 1993
Frank Dutton Coach
Sharon Farley Goff 1980
Brian Haag 1989
James C. Kroner 1939
Rob Porter 1984
Class of 2017
Brett Camden 1989
Ed Grogg Contributor
Brian Herriott 1987
Eric Mark Johnson 1975
Phil Knell 1963
Melanie Moore Paxson 1990
Maureen Scott Renaud 2002
Marty Williams Coach
