Faith Bender - RBG Student Athlete Standout...In Her Own Words... In the summer of 2014 my dad, who is also my coach, took me to the historic Drake University in De Moines, Iowa, where all the greatest track and field athletes have competed over the years. I competed in the AAU National Junior Olympics held there at Drake Stadium. It is a week long competition and kids from all over the country with qualifying marks entered the meet. I competed against 58 girls in the 12 year old age group in discus from all over the United States. Going into the competition I had the lead ranking in the country with a personal mark, or PR, or 101 feet. I defended my ranking and threw 99 feet that day. I out threw a girl from Texas by 12 inches. This was my first National Title, so in 2014 I won Nationals with a mark of 99 feet. In 2015 the USATF Nationals are in Jacksonville, Florida and the AAU's are in Virginia Beach. I hope to defend my title and once again bring home the Gold! Faith Bender Congratulations Faith on all of your hard work and on winning the Discus Gold!