Dunnichay reconfirmed for Olympic participation

By JESSICA KERMAN

jessica.kerman@heraldbulletin.com

Elwood resident Mary Beth Dunnichay will be going to the Olympics in Beijing, according to the American Arbitration Association.

Marian Dunnichay, Mary Beth’s mother, said the family received the news a little after 2 p.m. Saturday that a complaint filed by another diver was dismissed.

Laura Wilkinson filed a complaint Tuesday night with the American Arbitration Association in an attempt to gain a spot on the 10-meter synchronized diving competition, in which Dunnichay and partner Haley Ishimatsu were named to the U.S. squad.

Wilkinson and synchronized diving partner Jessica Livingston had a higher average score than the Dunnichay-Ishimatsu team at the Olympic Selection Camp in Knoxville, Tenn., in the 10-meter platform event. However, Dunnichay and Ishinmatsu had a higher single score of four rounds and a higher “projected competition score,” according to the complaint.

The families sat through an 11-hour conference call Friday about the issue.

“We felt positive last night when we got home,” Marian Dunnichay said. “We came home last night and we didn’t sleep that well.”

However, as soon as the e-mail came reconfirming Mary Beth Dunnichay’s participation in the Olympics, she finally ate some food and went to sleep, her mother said.

“She’s relieved,” Marian Dunnichay said. “Now she can focus just on training right now.”

Marian and Mary Beth Dunnichay leave for Pasadena, Calif., on Wednesday to start Olympic activities. They leave on Aug. 1 for Beijing, China, where 13 other family members will be joining them.

Dunnichay and partner Ishimatsu will be at Calloway Park at 1 p.m. Sunday to sign autographs at a community celebration.