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driver, only to be told by her coach one very dark moment that she would never make it. And there were further trials when team chemistry threatened to leave Pac out in the cold. Indeed, she and her brakeman were on the “outs” for quite a long time. “But time heals,” said Pac, “and the fact that we both believe in God brought us back together.” Pac made a return visit to the Springfield College campus just seven weeks


or so following her triumph and, during a presentation to a packed assembly, told students how lucky they were. She also exhorted them to reach for a goal and not to let anyone steer them clear of it. A rehabilitation and disabilities studies major, Pac spoke to them in the new Richard B. Flynn Campus Union, not long after she had taken a tour that included the Wellness and Recreation Complex and the indoor track in the Field House. Viewing the fully equipped facilities, she remarked, “I wish I were here now.” The Farmington, Conn., native thanked numerous people who had believed


in her along the way, including her track coach, Jim Pennington, who had encouraged her in the summer of 2002 to try out for “some bobsledding trials” at Northeastern University. The bobsledding experts apparently saw something they liked in this Springfield College heptathlete (she had finished 10th in that event in the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in 2002), and not long thereafter, Erin found herself on the literal “fast tracks” of Lake Placid and Park City, Utah. By 2009 and 2010, Pac was ranked sixth in the world, and had notably


done very well at one particular venue — Whistler Sliding Centre — where she had medaled. Perhaps it was kizmet. She was primed, even if some people around her


didn’t fully realize it, to become just the third Springfield College alumnus to ever win an Olympic medal, the first female, and the first to do so in the Winter Games. Just how had that dream formed


when she was in kindergarten? Her teacher had staged a mock Olympic opening ceremony, and kindergartner Erin was given the opportunity to carry the torch. “That’s really when my Olympic dream began,” said Erin, now 29, grasping her bronze medal ever so tightly. “I just never imagined it was going to be fulfilled in the world of bobsledding.”1


John Grocki '66, G'67, (left) and Dave Avezzie '70 are pictured with Pac. Both worked in the Farmington, Conn., school system when Pac was a student there, Avezzie as her teacher, and Grocki as her athletic director.


Pac greets students during her visit to campus.


Driver Pac and brakeman Elana Meyers celebrate in Vancouver.


TRIANGLE 1 Vol . 82, No. 1


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