Lake Park grad qualifies for a third Olympics decathlon competition
Once again, Zach Ziemek has put himself in position.
The Itasca native and 2011 Lake Park graduate qualified for his third Olympic Games in decathlon Saturday at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Eugene, Oregon.
Finishing second between fellow qualifiers Heath Baldwin and Harrison Williams, Ziemek’s 8,516 points is second only to his 8,676 points in a bronze medal finish at the 2022 World Athletics Championships also at Hayward Field. That 2022 total ranks 27th in decathlon history.
Ziemek, 31, finished sixth at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and seventh in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. On Aug. 1-2 in Paris he’ll compete among a field Ziemek calls the deepest ever, headed by defending Olympic champion Damian Warner of Canada.
Known as “Double Z,” Ziemek doesn’t seem fazed or amazed at having qualified for his third Olympics.
“I think my family and everyone around me is really more excited than I am about that,” he said from his home near Madison, Wisconsin, where he continues to train with Nate Davis, his former multi-events coach at the University of Wisconsin.
“I guess I’m very excited that I’m going, but I’ve always looked at the final picture, which was going to this Olympics and contending for a gold or any type of medal, it’s what you go for.
“If you’re in the mix, right?”
Ziemek immediately put himself in the mix at the Trials, winning the opening 100-meter dash and following with second-place finishes in long jump and shot put, then third-place in high jump.
On Day Two he added victories in discus and pole vault, his specialty. Fellow Lake Park graduate Danny Spejcher placed 11th overall, one of several times multiple Lancers have competed in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for decathlon.
Ziemek has persevered through injuries such as a ruptured hamstring at the 2019 USA Championships and a dislocated joint capsule in his left foot at the 2023 World Athletics Championships.
Even this April at the Mt. SAC Relays back stiffness caused him to retire from the full decathlon and focus on individual events.
Last weekend at Hayward Field, as commentator and former Olympic gold medalist Dan O’Brien noted, Ziemek looked lean, long and strong.
He attacks recovery and rehabilitation with the help of his lead physician, Madison chiropractor Andrew Schupp.
“It’s kind of like this game of, I need to be careful with everything, but I don’t have to be careful when I’ve already made a world team, an Olympic team. It’s kind of like I’m putting all my chips down and going for it then,” he said.
“It,” for Ziemek, would be contending for a medal in Paris. For this third attempt, though, he’s freed himself from the pressures of place and is operating under different expectations.
“I expect to be in the best shape I’ve ever been and to compete as hard as I ever have,” said Ziemek, whose four individual state titles in 2010 and 2011 helped Lake Park win two of its four straight Class 3A track and field championships from 2010-13.
Married nearly five years to former Wisconsin 1500-meter runner Victoria Paulson, Ziemek says “we” a lot when referring to his accomplishments.
His team — parents Rick and Vicki, Ziemek’s sister, Victoria, and her husband, and a bunch of her relatives, Davis and Schupp — all were at Hayward Field urging Ziemek to his third Olympic Games.
“For me, I honestly love to do it, but I have such an amazing family and support staff of coaching, medical, that I would never have made three without them. I’d never have made one without them,” Ziemek said.
“Me doing all of this? A lot of the light is on me, but all this stuff that’s behind the scenes is what makes this all happen.”
Burk with the assist
As she did to set Metea Valley’s all-time assists record in girls soccer with 42 to go with 32 goals, Lucy Burk put her best foot forward to help a friend.
In a ceremony on Tuesday, the Illinois High School Soccer Coaches Association all-state forward donated to Little Friends in Warrenville money she earned as part of winning the 22nd Body Armor Sports Series MVP award.
In a surprise announcement on Father’s Day that included Mustangs teammates, U.S. Marines, Hinsdale Central graduate and Chicago Fire player Andrew Gutman, and with her father, Matt, beside her, Burk received the national award for which she’d been nominated by Metea Valley coach Chris Whaley.
Little Friends, which helps children and adults with autism or developmental disabilities, is important to Burk because it’s important to the family of her best friend, Abby Ruppe.
The girls met two days after the Burks moved to Naperville from Oak Park before Lucy entered first grade. She said she “became one” with the Ruppe family.
Abby’s younger brother, Ben, a Metea Valley student, has autism and uses the services of Little Friends.
“Little Friends is a perfect charity to help Benny,” said Lucy Burk, who will be playing soccer at Northern Michigan. “So I chose them to help Ben, help in any way I can because they helped raise me when I was little.”
As well, Ben and Abby’s father, Paul Ruppe, died of cancer during the Mustangs’ run to the 2022 state soccer title. Like the two girls, their fathers were fast friends.
“My dad instantly clicked with Mr. Ruppe, so losing him not only affected my dad but the entire community,” Lucy Burk said.
Also attending Tuesday’s ceremony at Little Friends was Matt Burk, Abby’s mother, Anne Ruppe, president and CEO of Little Friends Mike Briggs, and Pat Burke, who helped create the Anchored for Life Fund to support the Ruppe family.
“The Burks have really been a part of my whole life pretty much,” Abby Ruppe said, “and Lucy choosing this foundation and organization to give the check to due to her MVP award really means a lot to my family.”
doberhelman@dailyherald.com