Lillian Webb Is 94 And Still Winning National Athletic Titles

At 94 years old, Lillian Webb is still going for the gold.

In early August, she hopes to be in San Francisco, competing for the eighth time in the National Senior Games.

In 2004, then Gov. Jeb Bush presented her with the trophy from the Florida Sports Association honoring her as the state's amateur athlete of the year. Webb has set national records in her age group for the 100-meter run, long jump, shot put and discus throw.

Back in December, at the Florida Senior Games in Fort Myers, she again qualified for the nationals, not only in those four events, but also in the 200-meter run and in bowling.

A few weeks before the national competition, Webb will start running to prepare for the senior nationals. Because she doesn't have a sand pit needed to practice the long jump, she said with a laugh, she has developed a simple technique that's taken her to several national gold medals in this event.

"I just go up to the line, say a Hail Mary, and jump," she said.

Besides help from above, Webb needs a bit of earthly aid to make it to San Francisco and compete again in the National Senior Games, which are held every two years.

"I have never asked for help before," she said. But, she said, in searching for the lowest cost accommodations - "all I need is a place to put my head down at night" - she's found that she won't be able to make this trip strictly on her own resources.

At the urging of friends she's made competing in the state senior games, Webb went before the Highlands County commissioners to see if there is any way to find a sponsorship.

"Absolutely, we would like to try and help her represent Highlands County," said county Commissioner Guy Maxcy. He said county staff is trying to find a means to do that, which may mean spreading the word among community organizations.

"This is a great story for our county," Maxcy said. "And we need to try to support her in any way we can."

Webb's story begins in Philadelphia, where she was born in 1914 and lived until she was in the third grade, when her parents moved to Summit, N.J., just outside of New York City.

A self-described "tomboy" as a girl, Web ran track and played field hockey, basketball and baseball through high school. And, she said, to keep her parents wood stove going, "I split so many cords of wood."

"My athletic days ended with high school," she recalled, adding that when she graduated in 1934, in the depths of the Depression, she, like tens of millions of people, put all her efforts into making a living.

After a series of jobs including waitressing, working in a dress shop and serving on the first aid crew at Radio City Music Hall, Webb won a scholarship to Mt. St. Vincent College. She earned a bachelor's degree and spent 33 years teaching art and history, at the elementary and high school levels in New York, while earning a master's degree from Catholic University in Washington, D.C., during six summer sessions.

Moving to Maine when she retired, Webb began participating in the county and state senior games. She qualified for her first national competition in 1989, two years after she began spending winters in Sebring.

A year-round resident here since 1992, Webb has competed in the national senior games in Pittsburgh, San Antonio, Texas, Tucson Ariz., Norfolk, Va., Louisville, Ky., and twice in Baton Rouge, La.

"It took me three times at the nationals before I won my first medal, and it was a bronze," Webb said. She kept competing, going on to win dozens of gold medals, she said, because "I have a competitive spirit.

"And I like anything that can be a challenge."

Webb said her secret to staying healthy and happy is staying active, mentally and phsyically.

In addition to bowling, she serves as a volunteer mediator for the court system, directs the community choir at the Woodhaven Estates senior community, which performs at a nursing home every Friday, plays the organ, and produces fine wood carvings of wildlife.

"Be inquisitive," Webb said. "And be active, it keeps you going, and there's no need to ever be a sourpuss."