“She was so excited,” Mary Beth said. “It was so cute.”

Mary Beth’s Olympic run couldn’t have come at a better time for her hometown.

Elwood was rattled this year by the twin terrors of rising unemployment and an escalating crime rate. Two plants closed, and the city was haunted by a murder-suicide.

Residents of Elwood and of all Madison County found hope in the resilience and resolve of a teenager thrust onto the national stage.

Dunnichay’s path to the Olympics was littered with obstacles, but her effervescent smile never seemed to leave her face.

Teamed with Haley Ishimatsu, a 15-year-old from California who was the second-youngest American Olympian by a few months, Dunnichay faced a make-or-break moment at February’s World Cup in China.

Needing a 79 to qualify for a U.S. spot, she and Ishimatsu scored an 84.

When Laura Wilkinson and Jessica Livingston filed a complaint challenging a selection camp committee’s decision to place Dunnichay and Ishimatsu on the team, the Elwood resident preached the importance of the American team sticking together.

An arbitrator eventually ruled in Dunnichay’s favor, and she was officially on her way to Beijing. She took 13 family members with her, but the hearts and hopes of thousands of others made the trip as well.

Many observers looking to explain Dunnichay’s impact on Elwood like to turn back the clock 68 years to Wendell Willkie’s presidential campaign. Willkie accepted the Republican nomination on Aug. 17, 1940, at Callaway Park.

Dunnichay was feted with a parade in her honor at that same park on July 20. She rode on top of a fire truck and was awestruck at the crowd assembled to cheer her.

“That was so awesome,” Dunnichay said. “I didn’t expect it. I didn’t know anything about it.”

Marian Dunnichay told her daughter the city was planning “a little parade” to celebrate her Olympic qualification. Mary Beth was completely unprepared by the epic scope of the parade she experienced.

Thousands of residents lined the streets, basking in the opportunity to send off the city’s favorite daughter.

“I was so overwhelmed,” Mary Beth admitted. “I started crying.”