8
The College of New Jersey Magazine
P R A I R I E
Bringing
home
the gold
Jack Wallace shines
at the Paralympic Games
NOW THAT HIS HOMETOWN
PARADE, street naming, and key-to-the-
city ceremonies are over, Jack Wallace '20
of Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, can enjoy
the lingering euphoria of winning a gold
medal with his U.S. sled hockey team at
this year's Paralympic Winter Games in
South Korea. "That's a memory I will
never forget," says Wallace of the thrilling
2-1 overtime victory against Canada
in the finals.
Team USA, down 1-0 most of the game,
scored with 37 seconds to play. The game
entered a sudden-death overtime period,
with Wallace, a forward, on the ice when
a teammate from Princeton scored
the winning goal. "It was an amazing
moment," says Wallace, a biomedical
engineering major. "We fell on top of each
other in a big group hug."
Wallace lost his right leg in a boating
accident when he was 10 years old.
Hockey was his game before the accident,
and he discovered sled hockey a year after
his injury. "I never imagined back then
that I could represent my country like
this. I am not sure it has really sunk
in yet." —Kara Pothier
