Tracy's love for sports began at a very early age. Born the middle child, between two brothers, Troy and Todd, Tracy's competitive streak kicked in early as well. Growing up in the Midwest, with its icy cold winters and hot, humid summers, Tracy's first sports as a child were figure skating and gymnastics.

Tracy excelled in both sports very quickly, but then nature took its course. "I grew to be too tall for both of these sports. By the time I was 10, I had legs up to my ears." That led her to the sports of volleyball and basketball in her middle school years. It wouldn't be until high school that Tracy would discover her greatest talent and passion: Track & Field.

Running History
In fact it was one event in particular that put Tracy's life on the fast track, so to speak. It was her sophomore year of high school, where she was a cheerleader. Tracy's older brother Troy, a senior, was competing at the Wisconsin State Track Championships in the 100 & 300 meter hurdles. "I remember my parents dragged my younger brother Todd and I to the competition. It was an all day affair of just sitting at a track. I did everything to get out of going that day." But destiny stepped in. Tracy watched her brother win two State titles that day. But it wasn't watching the competition that sparked Tracy to run and join the track team. It was a challenge from her big brother that she could never do it. "I remember after the meet was over, Todd and I wanted to go out to eat, but Troy was tired, and since it was his day, we had to do what he wanted. So I said, what are you so tired from? You only ran from there to there. And he said, "oh yeah, you could never do it!" And I said, 'I can do anything you can do, and probably even better.' And Troy said, "I'll bet you anything in the world you don't even have the guts to try."

       

So the bet was on...
Over the next few months Tracy and Troy would race everywhere: to the car, to the house, up the stairs. And the next school year, Tracy joined the girl's track team at Pius XI Catholic High School; and chose her brother's event: the hurdles. No one could have predicted what would come from this silly sibling challenge.

The unexpected...
After just one year, Tracy sent shock waves through the Track & Field world in the state of Wisconsin and around the nation by winning Conference and State Championship titles in three events; smashing the state records, becoming nationally ranked and sparking scouts from all the major universities around the country to sit up and notice. And of course it didn't take long for the media to fall in love with this skinny, blonde haired, blue eyed track star from America's Heartland.

"I think I got so much attention because nobody knew who I was. I just came out of no where. I mean it started out as just a stupid bet. Everyone was like, 'Who IS she?, Where did she come from? The media just ran with it, it was crazy!" Tracy went through the next year undefeated, rewriting the record books around the state. Her senior year, Tracy repeated the feats of her Junior year and broke her own School, Conference and State Records. Those records still stand today. They have gone untouched for nearly 16 years.

College Years...

Tracy went on to compete for two years at the University of Wisconsin Madison, where she set a University record in the 400 meter hurdles. Another record that still stands today. Seeking a program that gave greater emphasis to sprints and hurdles, Tracy transferred to Arizona State University, where she set another school record. Those records made her the first NCAA athlete ever to hold school records at two major Division 1 universities.

Throughout her collegiate career, Tracy was a five time NCAA All-American and earned 13 All Big Ten honors, 13 Academic All Big Ten honors, 4 All PAC Ten honors, and 4 Academic All PAC Ten honors. In 1992, she and current PGA golfer Phil Michelson were named Arizona State's scholar athletes of the year.

World Class
After graduating from college with a major in broadcast Journalism and a minor in history, Tracy entered world competition and became ranked seventh in the world and fourth in the United States among hurdlers. Her long list of honors include Olympic Festival medals and International circuit titles. During these years, her athletic accomplishments, combined with her All-American good looks, led to several endorsement deals with some of the world's biggest corporations. Tracy has been endorsed by Walt Disney World, ASICS, Ray Ban, Kodak, Red McCombs Universal Toyota and America West Airlines.

After being a U.S. Team alternate in 1996, Tracy was on pace to qualify for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, when she suffered a spinal fracture in an auto accident in Austin, Texas. Her vehicle was halted at a stoplight when a Chevy Suburban "came flying around the turn behind me" and hit her car from behind.

"I'm a hurdler, and with all the impact and pounding the event requires, it made it almost impossible to work through. But believe me, we really tried. We did everything to work through it with doctors and chiropractors, but it just became too risky." National team doctors told her that if the fracture breaks all the way through, "I would risk never doing anything athletic again for the rest of my life." So we made the decision to forgo our goals for Sydney.

Tracy attended the Olympics in Sydney, but as a journalist writing copy for television broadcasts. It was in Sydney where Tracy first heard of an event called the Modern Pentathlon.

A New Event
In Sydney Tracy worked with a company called World Sport and with the World Olympians Association, where many of its employees were pentathletes. "I remember asking, 'what in the world is pentathlon?' And the more I learned about it, the more fascinated I became with the sport and its history to the Olympic Games." (You can read more about this historical sport on the Modern Pentathlon page.)

But after Sydney, Tracy had a long healing process to go with her injury. She returned to Tampa, Florida with a decision to retire from Track & Field and focus on her broadcast career as a producer for the NBC station in Tampa. But her association with the World Olympians Association brought her to the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, where she once again worked with the media. The trip to Salt Lake reunited her with the WOA and her pentathlon friends, who encouraged her to give the sport a try. "They kept saying, with your athletic background, it would be perfect for you." So I checked it out with the United States Olympic Committee and learned there were two places in the States to train for Modern Pentathlon; San Antonio and Colorado Springs. While in Salt Lake City, Tracy spoke with Mike Moran, head of media relation for the USOC, about the possibility of a media related job with the USOC. When he told her to come on out, she made her decision to give the sport a try.

Modern Pentathlon
Tracy moved out to Colorado Springs in the fall and began writing for several Olympic publications, primarily her favorite, World Olympian Magazine.

Later that year, Tracy slowly got into the Pentathlon scene, learning one event at a time. Her training was very limited because she was working most of the time. While on an interview for World Olympian magazine, Tracy met Pat Parelli, one of the world's most renowned horsemanship trainers. He also became fascinated with the riding event of the pentathlon and offered to sponsor Tracy's training.

The sponsorship began in February of 2003. In March Tracy went to Europe to train with one of Parelli's level three trainers, Luca Moneta in Italy, where she worked on improving her riding skills. Tracy then spent the summer at the Parelli international training center in Pagosa Springs, Colorado working personally with Pat on her riding skills and learning to jump. In September, now ready to fully take on all five events, Tracy moved to the South of France to train in Monaco, home of the international federation of Modern Pentathlon: UIPM.

Training in Monaco
"It's the most wonderful place to train. The coaches and facilities are absolutely amazing, not to mention it is one of the most beautiful places in the world. It's really encouraging to be associated with the UIPM, the people are so supportive. UIPM Secretary General Joel Bouzou is so passionate about the sport and works hard to promote it. He really goes out of his way to support and encourage athletes to succeed in the sport." In Monaco, Tracy has individual coaches in each of the five events. "Their expertise and dedication has really helped me make some great improvements over the past few months, and we all are excited about the future."

The Future
"I'm really excited about this sport, and I am looking forward to my upcoming competitions. It's a fascinating new challenge." With no past experience with the sport of pentathlon, Tracy has nothing to base anything on or compare it to right now. But she has worked very hard to learn the five sports in a very short time. "I'm looking forward to competing at the international level and seeing how far I can take it. How quickly I can put it all together is anyone's guess, but I'm working as hard as I can. I'm really determined to become an Olympic level pentathlete."