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Rush City girl runs Olympic torch relayBy Barbara Brown When Jenni Luckoff received an express mail package on Aug. 31, she and her mother couldnít believe what was inside. In the large, stiff envelope was a letter congratulating Jenni as being chosen one of 11,500 people who would carry the Olympic torch across the country in a relay to Salt Lake City for the 2002 Winter Olympics. ìI didnít believe it,î Luckoff, 18, said. ìI thought it was a joke.î As she and mother Wanda speculated as to who could have nominated the Rush City High School senior, Jenniís older sister Michelle sat back and watched. And then she laughed. ìI never thought sheíd get it,î 19-year-old Michelle said. The older sister kept secret the fact that she entered Jenni into the contest for six months. She couldnít hold it in anymore and it came out a laugh. ìI sent dog food to Jenni once,î Michelle added. ìI just didnít think sheíd get it.î But something in Michelleís five sentence essay she sent to the contest caught the judges eye. Maybe it was how Michelle said Jenni helps her younger sister, Sammi, with her homework. Or maybe it was the fact that Michelle considers her sister to be one of her best friends. Either way, Jenni was chosen one of the special few out of more than 100,000 essays submitted. While she was excited about the proposition, she was more nervous than anything. ìI didnít tell anyone for a long time,î Jenni said. Then, one day, her name appeared in a newspaper article about Minnesotans carrying the torch, and her civics teacher Mike Louzek spilled the beans. ìHe told his first class and Iím running through the halls and all the kids are pretending to carry torches,î Jenni said. As last Saturday approached, Jenni said her nervousness dissipated into excited anxiousness. The family, along with Jenniís best friend Aimee Perreault and several other relatives, traveled to southeastern Wisconsin for Jenniís section of the relay. The torch was not carried through Minnesota. After a seven-hour drive, the crew arrived at about 11 p.m. Friday night. ìWe stayed up talking until about one in the morning,î Wanda Luckoff said. ìI couldnít get any sleep,î Jenni said. ìAnd when I finally went to bed, I just tossed and turned all night.î At 8 a.m. Jan. 5, it was rise and shine. By noon, Jenni was suited up in a white and icy blue jogging suit, white gloves and a white knit cap, complete with silver Olympic rings on the front ñ her favorite part of the outfit. She was given her torch and thatís when it struck her. ìThey told us that when our part of the relay comes up that we would be the only person in the world carrying the Olympic torch,î Jenni said. ìIt was an amazing feeling.î At 2 p.m., the man who carried the torch just before Jenni approached her location on the relay path. The flame jumped from the previous runnerís torch to Jenniís and she took her moment in the sun. For two-tenths of a mile, which seemed to fly by in seconds, Jenni could think of nothing else but how incredible she felt. She carried the metal and glass torch, shaped like a huge icicle and inscribed with ìLight the Fire Within,î aloft as she jogged down the road. ìThe only thing I could think of was that they told us to keep running and look to the right and wave at all the people.î Wanda Luckoff said she was beaming with pride for her daughter carrying the torch and the one who thought so highly of her sister to enter the contest. ìThere was all these people watching and you donít have a clue who half of them are,î said Wanda Luckoff. ìAnd theyíre all cheering her on and cheering the torch on. ìIt was amazing.î Hans Luckoff, Jenniís father, said he was so proud of his daughter that he nearly got choked up. ìIt was very emotional,î he said. ìI was also thinking that I hoped she didnít fall down. ìOut of all the girls, Jenni is probably the least athletically inclined.î Youngest sister, Sammi, admitted that she was jealous of Jenniís special moment. ìI told her that I should do it because I run cross country,î Sammi said. But, ever supportive, Sammi instead helped Jenni train for the run. ìShe was getting me out there to practice all the time,î Jenni said. The morning of the run, Jenni could not find one of her tennis shoes she thought she had so carefully packed. Sammi came through, however, and the young runnerís extra pair of shoes helped support the torch bearer. And while Sammi may not have carried the torch, she jogged alongside Jenni the entire way, yelling encouragement. Jenni said her return to school Monday was a little nerve-wracking. She wasnít sure how everyone would react to her carrying the Olympic torch through the halls. After she explained to a few what the torch was, ìeveryone was so excited about it. ìThey wanted to know if they could carry it.î Jenni said that although she only spent a few hours with the people she shared a section of the torch relay with, she felt as though she has known them her entire life. ©ECM Post Review |