Although she hadn’t thrown a discus since she was a high school athlete in Quinter in 1979, earlier this year, Allison McFarland, professor of business, decided to see if she could qualify for the Kansas Senior Olympics, held Sept. 19–30 at Gage Park in Topeka.
She did – and won the gold medal for her age group, 50-54, with a throw of 88' 2". She was gold medalist in shotput as well. And even though she hadn’t thrown javelin in high school (girls didn’t in the ’70s), she learned the technique and ended up with a silver medal in Topeka. McFarland is now qualified in all three events for the national Senior Olympics next summer in Cleveland, Ohio.