She may be the ultimate multitasker, but Michele Fumagalli even surprised herself on the Memorial Day weekend.
That’s when the former Neuqua Valley and Notre Dame soccer standout achieved a longtime goal. A dietitian who lives in Oswego with her husband John and 23-month-old daughter Gwen, Fumagalli qualified for the Aug. 1-5 CrossFit Games in Madison, Wis.
She did that by placing fourth at the Central Regional in Nashville, Tenn.
“I thought it was a possibility, but it was hard for me to say it out loud that I could do this,” said Fumagalli, whose maiden name was Weissenhofer. “I like to be the underdog.”
The goal of the CrossFit Games? Find the fittest human beings on earth.
It took a top-five finish to advance. It’s something Fumagalli, who turns 31 next month, had been trying to do since taking up CrossFit training in 2011 after learning about it from a former college teammate.
“It’s like an exercise program, a lifestyle,” she said, taking a sip from her water cup fittingly sporting a Wonder Woman logo. “Some people call it a cult, but it’s getting people healthier, more functional in their everyday movement.”
Fumagalli, who scored three goals in the 2005 Class AA state championship game, was on four Irish soccer teams that reached the Final Four. She was a forward who finished just two assists shy of the career 30-goal, 30-assist club.
In February, CrossFit devotees embarked upon five weeks featuring different workouts. They reported results along with videotape proof, hoping to qualify for the regional.
“I knew I needed something to keep me fit, even though I thought I was pretty fit at the time,” Fumagalli said.
Working full time for Gatorade after earning her marketing degree at Notre Dame, she didn’t qualify for her first regional until 2013.
Over the next three years, she married, began training in CrossFit with a coach and pursued a degree in dietetics at Benedictine. She made three straight regionals, her goal simply to do her best.
After finishing seventh, two places short of qualifying for the larger games in 2015, she decided to take aim in 2016.
At the beginning of the year, however, she learned she was pregnant.
“We weren’t planning to start a family until later,” she said. “My husband apologized but I said, ‘It is what it is.’ Gwen was born Labor Day. We have a beautiful baby and we couldn’t love her more.”
Fumagalli got her second degree when she was seven months pregnant, and now works for Northwestern Medicine as an outpatient oncology dietitian. She also does nutrition counseling on the side.
She resumed training but didn’t think reaching the CrossFit Games would be a reasonable goal, especially after missing the regional in 2017.
Michele and John, a former Neuqua baseball player who pitched at Kansas and is now the Wildcats’ pitching coach, put a gym in their garage. She continued training for shorter intervals when she could find the time.
“John works out for fun, for health,” Michele said. “He’s normal.”
She became even more adept at time management in reaching her goal.
“They say to be a CrossFit athlete, you have to be a little crazy,” Michele Fumagalli said. “My husband and coach both thought I could do it.”
She will still be an underdog when she heads north in two weeks to face 39 other qualifiers.
“For many of them, their only job is to train,” Fumagalli said. “Or maybe coach people at their gym. And I’ll be the only mom. For me, it’s all about quality over quantity when it comes to training.”
Competitors won’t know beforehand what tests — prepared by a former Navy SEAL — they’ll face.
“It’s a beast of a thing,” Fumagalli said. “But my goal is the top 20. I think that would be good.”