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IllustrateD volume 24, issue 4
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t r a c k & f i e l d f e a t u r e : d a n i b u n c h
BY STACY CLARDIE
SClardie@GoldandBlack.com
D
ani Bunch was all about basketball and volleyball,
played the sports since she was a kid growing up in
Illinois, and was set to do both after changing schools in
junior high.
But when mom Debbie went to pay the athletic fees at
the start of the school year, it was $40 per sport, capping
out at $80. So Mom suggested Dani do a third sport to cap-
italize on the "deal."
She picked track. But because she "hated" running, she
tried throwing.
"That first year, it actually went pretty well," Dani Bunch
said. "Most kids aren't lucky enough to have a coach who
knows what they're doing. So my first year, even though it
was just seventh grade, it went pretty well and I got to state.
I think I got second, maybe (in the shot put). I stayed with it
because it went well, and then it just progressively got better."
Understatement.
Now in her fifth year at Purdue, Bunch has evolved into
one of the best throwers in the country, piling up champi-
onships, breaking school records seemingly at each meet
in her final season and outdistancing competitors by ridic-
ulous amounts.
Already with four Big Ten titles in her name, one first-
team All-America certificate for a top 8 national finish, four
second-team All-America certificates for landing 9th-16th
in the national meet and three school records, Bunch could
be on cruise control, content with the impressive résumé
she's built over the last four years.
But the two second-place finishes in the shot and weight
throw at last year's Big Ten Indoor Championships are
bugging her.
The opportunity to stand atop the podium — and get
Tom Campbell
Dani Bunch already has a résumé that makes her one of the
best throwers in Purdue's history. But she's still pushing —
with more All-America honors, Big Ten championships and
school records to be had.
Humble Heights
Bunch not boasting, not satisfied
