TEKOA — No one in Tekoa is surprised Susannah Scaroni won the women’s wheelchair division of the Boston Marathon on Monday, but everyone is excited for her.
A Paralympic gold medalist, this was her first win after nine attempts at the world-famous marathon. She finished in 1 hour, 41 minutes, 45 seconds.
A car crash left Scaroni paralyzed when she was 5. Her mother, Barbara Scaroni, said the town was supportive of the family after the incident. “Tekoa is a good place to live,” she said.
A sign under the flagpole at Tekoa High School now bears her name: “Home of Paralympian, Susannah Scaroni, Class of 2009.”
Many of her teachers still work in Tekoa, a town of about 800 people in northeast Whitman County. They described her as humble and courageous.
“She was smart, motivated, worked hard on everything, never drew attention to herself and never complained,” her fourth-grade teacher Kim Schultz said.
Now 31, Scaroni earned a master’s degree in nutritional science from the University of Illinois in December.
She recently passed her board certification as a registered dietitian.
The town has enjoyed cheering her on over the years, sometimes having watch parties at the local tavern.
Scaroni’s photo is above a classroom’s door with a sign that says “dream big.”
“She is showing such strength, that people endure and can become such great role models,” said her kindergarten teacher, Bobette Rambo.
Rambo remembers sending homework while she was healing at St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Medical Center in Spokane.
The hospital sent back videotapes to share with the class of Scaroni making progress, learning how to swim and how to move again.
When she returned to school, she went back to playing on the playground with her classmates by crawling around.
“The kids here were so nonjudging and so accepting,” Rambo said.
Teresa Skinner, who as the head of the adaptive sports program at St. Luke’s worked with Scaroni from elementary school through high school, described her as “a gracious athlete.”
Scaroni was not always competitive when she was younger, but athletics built her confidence.
“She has an incredible amount of resiliency,” Skinner said. “No matter what ends up in front of her and what she is challenged with, she doesn’t give up.”
An example of that was demonstrated when one of her wheels came loose during the race in Boston. She stayed cool, fixed it and kept her lead.
Her work with Skinner was life-changing and taught her independence, Barbara Scaroni said. Athletics allowed her to travel the world.
“We are all so proud of her,” Barbara Scaroni said. “It’s a beautiful thing.”
