Eastern Iowa Sports and Rec

By Cory Kennedy/Iowa Games
Amber Woodford of Storm Lake and Mark Hauschildt of Winterset have been named the Iowa Games 2010 Marty McHone Athletes of the Year. Both athletes will be presented their awards on Tuesday, September 14, 2010, at 6:30pm at the State Historical Building in Des Moines at the annual Iowa Sports Foundation sponsorship reception.

Woodford, 20, has been competing in the Iowa Games since the age of 10 in basketball and track & field. Woodford attended Storm Lake High school, graduating in 2008. After tearing her ACL playing basketball her senior year of high school, Woodford returned to action after around 4 months of rehab to qualify for the State Track & Field meet. Woodford will be a junior this fall at Morningside College where she plans to improve on her 3rd place finish in the 400m dash at the GPAC conference track meet a year ago. She says she enjoys coming to the Iowa Games because it provides solid competition but in a more relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

Since collegiate track is nearly a year round sport, Woodford needed to train by herself during the summer. The Summer Iowa Games turned out to be the best way for Woodford to continue working hard and improving her times. In 2009, Woodford won the 100 & 200 meter dashes at the Iowa Games. With higher goals in 2010, Woodford went on to win the 100, 200, and 400 meter dashes. In just 2 years competing in track and field at the Iowa Games, Woodford has yet to win anything but gold and doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. Morningside College track coach, David Nash, stated that “Amber is an up and coming star in our conference.”

Hauschildt has been defying the odds and breaking records his entire life. Hauschildt’s story began at childbirth where he was born with Spina Bifida, a disease that affects the spinal cord which can render partial or complete paralysis. In Hauschildt’s case, he is paralyzed from the waist down. While many people would doubt that a man who cannot use his legs would ever be a good athlete, Hauschildt has proven that to be false. Undeterred by his condition, Hauschildt has spent endless hours training and perfecting his athletic skills in the sport of weightlifting.

Hauschildt weighs in at 242 pounds and in 2009 Hauschildt lifted 485 pounds in the bench press. No one could imagine that in the 2010 Summer Iowa Games Mark would lift an astonishing 500 pounds unequipped, winning the Gold medal and setting another Iowa Games record. At age 32, Hauschildt has been involved in weightlifting for over 15 years and has competed in the Iowa Games for over 5 years, winning 6 gold medals and one silver medal during that time.

Hauschildt is a very humble man and said, “I don’t worry too much on how I place at competitions, the bigger picture for me is setting new goals and reaching them.

Iowa Sports Foundation

The Iowa Sports Foundation (ISF) is a nonprofit sports management organization that helps develop amateur sports in Iowa and promotes positive lifestyles and physical fitness through athletic events and health education programs. The ISF host the Summer Iowa Games, Winter Iowa Games, Live Healthy America, Live Healthy Iowa, Live Healthy Iowa Kids, Fall Fitness Day, Go The Distance Day, Hoopin’ at the Dome, Net Fest, Fish Iowa Games, the ISF Mud Run, and the Iowa Games Golf Classic.