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Anna Sielaff - Tumultuous 2020
Anna Sielaff discusses her time at Concordia University Chicago as a college track athlete and student during the COVID-19 pandemic. She details her experiences in college athletics prior to the pandemic and her competition history in track and field, especially with discus and shot-put. Anna also discusses what it meant to have Division III championships canceled two years in a row, and her love for the sport and her teammates.
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Photos
Caption:
Anna Sielaff (middle) with her parents, Janice and Don, after winning 3rd place in discus at the Lutheran School Association’s (LSA) state track and field meet at Concordia University Chicago in 2012.
Where:
Chicago, Illinois
When:
2012
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption:
Anna (third row, second from left) participated in a meet at Morton High School during the spring season of her senior year in 2017.
Where:
Morton, Illinois
When:
2017
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption:
“Signing day” during Sielaff’s senior year at Lincoln Community High School, Sielaff (left) pictured with Coach Neil Alexander in 2017.
Where:
Lincoln, Illinois
When:
2017
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption:
Sielaff (second from right) with Jessica Brandt, Cassandra Garza, Amanda (Powlen) Gricus, Kimberlyn Gadawski, and Alexandra Blindauer (left to right) describes a fun day of group shenanigans at the “triangle” in 2018.
Where:
Chicago, Illinois
When:
2018
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption:
Sielaff (right) with Kimberlyn Gadawski during the autumn track season at Concordia University Chicago (CUC) in 2018. “I was known to wear red all the time… We ended up being twins at practice. She [Gadawski] forgot a sweatshirt and I gave her one of mine… a perfect moment for a picture!”
Where:
Chicago, Illinois
When:
2018
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption:
Sielaff competed in 2019 at the NACC indoor Conference at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Where:
Kenosha, Wisconsin
When:
2019
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption:
Simone Wilson, Anna Sielaff, Allison Kemp, and Dejah Sartin (left to right) during the 2019 indoor track season.
Where:
Illinois
When:
2019
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption:
Sielaff’s first day in Washington, D.C. for Lutheran College Washington Semester (LCWS) in 2019.
Where:
Washington, D.C.
When:
2019
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption:
Sielaff during the White House Garden tour during the LCWS in 2019. “I visited the White House twice in the same week!”
Where:
Washington, D.C.
When:
2019
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption:
Sielaff (front row, first from right) and fellow LCWS students with famous American civil rights activist, Joan Trumpaur Mulholland (second row, third from right), one of the Freedom Riders who was arrested in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1961. Taken during the LCWS in 2019.
Where:
Washington, D.C.
When:
2019
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption:
Anna Sielaff during the indoor White House Tour during the LCWS in 2019.
Where:
Washington, D.C.
When:
2019
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption:
Sielaff with her father, Don, during her last day of work at the National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution during the LCWS in 2019.
Where:
Washington, D.C.
When:
2019
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption:
Sielaff with Allison Kemp, Cassandra Garza, Kimberlyn Gadawski, Kelsey Woods, Shane Allen, Claire Urchell, and Jacob Mills (right to left) in 2020.
Where:
Chicago, Illinois
When:
2020
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption:
Sielaff with Allison Kemp during the indoor season at the University of Chicago in 2020. “One of my best friends from college. We are known as the Dynamic Duo.”
Where:
Chicago, Illinois
When:
2020
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption:
Parents, Don and Jan Sielaff (in front), with Keiley Jordan and Anna during the indoor season at Illinois Wesleyan in 2020.
Where:
Bloomington, Illinois
When:
2020
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption:
Practice coach, Amanda (Powlen) Gricus (front) sets high expectations for the team in January of 2020. Sielaff is pictured with Allison Kemp, Cassandra Garza, Kimberlyn Gadawski, Kelsey Woods, Shane Allen, Claire Urchell, and Jacob Mills (left to right).
Where:
Chicago, Illinois
When:
January 2020
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption:
Sielaff at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum for her summer internship in the Oral History department in 2020.
Where:
Springfield, Illinois
When:
2020
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption:
Team huddle before meet in 2020. “Before every meet we would pray and hype each other up. 1-2-3 C-U-C, 4-5-6 Family!”
Where:
Illinois
When:
2020
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption:
Kimberlyn Gadawski, Claire Urchell, Coach Steve Belanger, Sielaff, and Cassandra Garza (left to right) during the indoor track and field event in Chicago in 2021. “Our mock Conference meet.”
Where:
Chicago, Illinois
When:
2021
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption:
Cassandra Garza, Jaylen Glass, Gabrielle Harding, Gustavo Alvarez, and Shane Allen (back row), Claire Urchell, and Lora Haupt (front row) at the Senior year track banquet at CUC in 2021.
Where:
Chicago, Illinois
When:
2021
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption:
This sign was drawn by Angie Nichols after finding out about Sielaff’s graduate school acceptance. It was hung in the track office at Concordia University Chicago in February of 2021.
Where:
Chicago, Illinois
When:
February 2021
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption:
Sielaff with her parents during the spring conference meet in 2021. “My parents and my Aunt Debbie [Debbie Jordan] came to watch. Been three years since my parents saw me throw for outdoor season.”
Where:
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
When:
May 2021
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption:
Sielaff with mom, Janice, at the conference meet in spring of 2021. “Pep talk. Like mother, like daughter.”
Where:
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
When:
May 2021
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption:
Gabrielle Harding, Sielaff, Claire Urchell, Cassandra Garza, and Kimberlyn Gadawski during the conference meet in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at the Wisconsin Lutheran College in 2021.
Where:
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
When:
May 2021
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption:
Sielaff (right) with Claire Conrady in May of 2021. “My best friend, Claire Conrady, threw me a graduation parade. Been best buds for 22 years!”
Where:
Lincoln, Illinois
When:
May 2021
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo