NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Beatrice Juskeviciute is never more Lithuanian than in those moments when she is most stubborn.
“Maybe not everyone back home, but people know what they want and they are very persistent in that sense,” Juskeviciute, MA’23, says of the Baltic nation whose very existence has at times depended on a stubborn persistence to endure. “My coach always says that I don’t necessarily know the limits of when to stop, so maybe that is the Lithuanian in me.”
Fellow track and field alumna Veronica Fraley, MS’23, the four-time All-American who recently won the NCAA Division I women’s discus national championship, suggests there is nothing more American about her than an affinity for comfort cuisine, the greasier the better—in moderation, of course. For alumna and All-American Brooke Overholt, MEd’23, her most Canadian moments come when she pronounces words like “out” or “about”—at least judging by teammates’ teasing.
The track and field standouts are as different as you might expect of women from Kaunas, Lithuania; Raleigh, North Carolina; and St. Mary’s, Ontario. Their specialties run the track and field gamut: heptathlon for Juskeviciute, discus for Fraley and 400-meter hurdles for Overholt. If they qualify for this summer’s Paris Olympics, they will float down the Seine during the Opening Ceremony under different flags—part of a Commodore contingent that could also include SEC indoor shot put bronze medalist and first-team All-American Sarah Omoregie and former All-American shot putter Divine Oladipo, MEd’22, all of Great Britain.
But as the Lithuanian, American and Canadian each trained in Nashville this spring, they shared an ambition that transcends nationalities—and even the biggest event in world sports. Familiar to their surroundings at Vanderbilt, it’s the universal desire to explore the boundaries of your own potential and break through to new frontiers: That’s the essence of any athlete’s Olympic journey.
“I want to see how far I can go, how fast I can run,” Overholt says. “Growing up, I always watched the Olympics, and I always wanted to compete at that level. I’ve just always had that dream deep down inside of me. It’s driven me to where I am now.”
Brooke Overholt earned All-America honors finishing fourth in the 400 hurdles in the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships (Nick Klementzos/Vanderbilt).
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