JMU Olympians Headed for London

The London Olympics are still seven weeks away, but given that by then we’ll be heavy into backup QB controversies and 3-4 v. 4-3 debates, we wanted to go ahead and fill you in on the three former Dukes athletes we know of (so far) that are headed to this summer’s games.  Plus it’s just damn cool.

First, former women’s soccer star Corky Julien is one of Canada’s top goal-scorers.  We’ve been following her @cmjulien21 for a while now and assuming the Canucks don’t have a no-Twitter policy like some of the men’s squads, she’s going to be an awesome follow for some great Olympic scuttlebutt.

Next, former JMU swimmer Eva Hannesdottir will be competing in the pool for her home country of Iceland.  (If you’re near @jmuswag when she reads this, you may want to throw in some earplugs to save your hearing from the delighted shrieks).

Unless you’re old like us, you may forget that JMU once had an Archery program.  And they were damn good.  And coed.  Just generally one of those under-the-radar college sports that used to help JMU in the whole All-Sports College Cup type competitions.  And former archer Jakob Wukie will be representing the good ole’ US of A and his small town in Pennsylvania.  (Oddly, Rob and I had a friend on the Archery team when we were at JMU also from a small town in PA – who knew it was such a hotbed for fletching – not actually sure if that’s an archery word, but it sounds good).

Coach Lucas repping Virginia Sports

Finally, we also know JMU Field Hockey Coach Antoinette Lucas will be working a bit with the US team this summer during their prep camps.  USA doesn’t always make the field in hockey so it’s a big deal for them to be in the tournament this year.  Though it’ll be tough to live up to Coach L’s ’94 team.

Anyhow, enjoy the Games and now you’ll have a cool thing to point out when you’re boss’s CNBC is showing obscure Olympic sports in the afternoon (although nothing compares to Curling in the winter games).