Alumna Ciely Daly (’22) Places First in 2022 Spartan Trifecta World Championship, Raises Funds for Local Crisis Pregnancy Center
For some, four years of rigorous academic (and outdoor) adventures at Wyoming Catholic College would have been enough exertion for a year or two, at least. But Ciely Daly (’22) has never been one to rest on her laurels. It will come as no surprise to her fellow classmates or to anyone who has met this fiery Washingtonian that she had no sooner completed her senior year at Wyoming Catholic (this past May) than she began looking around for her next challenge. And it didn’t take long to find it: The Spartan Trifecta World Championship, a grueling, three-day race weekend that begins with a 5K Spartan Sprint on Friday, continues with Saturday’s 10K Spartan Super, and finishes with the 21K Spartan Beast on Sunday, all held in the mountains and ancient olive groves of Spartan’s spiritual home in Sparta, Greece.
Ciely is not one for half measures, so her Facebook update from Sunday will not shock those who know her well: “‘My steps have been steadfast in your paths, my feet have not faltered…Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.‘ I read this Sunday responsorial psalm the morning of my last race, the 21k+ Beast, little dreaming and hardly daring to hope how apt it would prove. It’s still sinking in:
I am the 2022 Female 18-24 Spartan Trifecta World Champion!”
Ciely was quick with her gratitude, as ever. “Thank you to the countless folks who have supported me: from my climbing mentors at Wyoming Catholic College, to the ninja-warrior-obsessed younger siblings who taught me to ‘lache,‘ from every casual running and swimming buddy to my closest friends and family. And most of all to God, through whom all things are possible. What a wild ride He’s given me!”
Perhaps least surprising of all, Ciely was not racing for her own satisfaction or glory. “This year,” she said, “I am running in the Spartan Obstacle Race Trifecta Championship and asking you to help me raise $3,000 in support of 4US.” 4US is a pro-life apostolate where various pro-life organizations–in Ciely’s case, Cowboys for Life, WCC’s Students for Life chapter–adopt a local crisis pregnancy center and raise funds to help provide these often-underfunded centers with hi-tech, life-saving ultrasound equipment.
“Every day in the United States,” Ciely says, “approximately three thousand pregnancies end prematurely and three thousand budding lives are lost due to abortion. Many of the women who make this difficult choice do so because they feel they have no choice: abortion seems the only option. With the overturning of Roe v. Wade this summer, the need to support these women has never been greater.Thanks to the efforts of thousands of pregnancy resource centers across the country, there is in fact a choice, but the efforts of these centers go in vain when funds and awareness are run short. It is our job to raise that awareness–and the funds–so that every woman knows she has the option to choose life, is empowered to choose life, and has the resources to make her choice. The pregnancy center I’m supporting is Elevation Women’s Healthcare (formerly “Abba’s House”), in Riverton, Wyoming. Any funds raised beyond my goal will go to support either Riverton’s “Abba’s House” or the newly-opening Providence Medical Center in Scranton, Pennsylvania.” (A quick check of Ciely’s fundraising page shows that she is more than a third of the way towards her goal, and given her persistence thus far, we’re certainly not comfortable betting against her.)
This is not the first time Ciely has thrown her weight behind a fundraising effort. In March of this year, she and several of her fellow WCC students joined the local Knights of Columbus chapter and launched the “Sunflowers for Ukraine Fundraiser,” selling bouquets of sunflowers that were delivered just in time for Easter, with the proceeds providing humanitarian aid to the Ukrainian people and war refugees.”
Congratulations on your achievement, Ciely, and may God continue to bless your efforts on behalf of the unborn and of pregnant women in need!
