SENATE RESOLUTION

8765



By Senators Finkbeiner and Fraser

 

            WHEREAS, Jill Bakken of Kirkland, Washington, along with teammate Vonetta Flowers, won the gold medal in the inaugural women’s Olympic bobsled race; and

            WHEREAS, Jill Bakken and Vonetta Flowers had the fastest combined time of 1 minute, 37.76 seconds in both runs; and

            WHEREAS, Vonetta Flowers, the team’s brakewoman and a former track star at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, became the first African-American athlete to win a Winter Olympic gold medal; and

            WHEREAS, Jill Bakken is a graduate of Lake Washington High School and is remembered as an ambitious sports competitor who also excelled in skiing, basketball, and soccer; and

            WHEREAS, Jill Bakken has been a member of the bobsled team since its inception in 1994, when she left Lake Washington High School to begin training; and

            WHEREAS, In 1995, Jill Bakken was the U.S. Olympic Committee Sportswoman of the Year; and

            WHEREAS, In order to help her training, Jill Bakken joined the Army and went through basic training and received assistance in the Armed Forces World Class Athlete Program and still serves in the National Guard; and

            WHEREAS, During her years as a student at Lake Washington High School, Jill Bakken was a three-time All-Kingco soccer player; and

            WHEREAS, Jill Bakken and Vonetta Flowers were not favored as medal contenders and yet overcame the seemingly insurmountable odds and raced to victory;

            NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Washington State Senate recognizes and honors Jill Bakken and Vonetta Flowers for their outstanding and landmark achievement in women’s bobsled racing; and

            BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be immediately transmitted by the Secretary of the Senate to Jill Bakken and the International Olympic Committee.


I, Tony M. Cook, Secretary of the Senate,

do hereby certify that this is a true and

correct copy of Senate Resolution 8765,

adopted by the Senate March 12, 2002.




TONY M. COOK

Secretary of the Senate