Paige Blackburn, Soldotna High School class of 2008, made her mark in Alaska winning four state championships in track and field; and made her mark nationally and internationally competing for the United States Air Force in track and field.
The U.S. Air Force named Paige Blackburn the U.S. Air Force Female Athlete of the Year.
Blackburn competed in the Air Force World Class Athlete Program in 2015 and 2016 and qualified to the USA Olympic Track and Field Team Trials in 2016. Blackburn holds the Air Force records in both the weight throw and standing long jump. She qualified in 2016 for the Olympic trials in the discus, throwing 200 feet, 8 inches or 61.16 meters (qualifying mark is 61 meters). Blackburn also throws the javelin at a national qualifying level and is considering a run at the 2020 trials for the Tokyo Games.
Blackburn graduated from Soldotna High School in 2008 as the record holder in the shot put and discus events. Blackburn won both the shot put and discus in 2007 and 2008 at the ASAA State Track and Field Championships, making her a four-time Alaska state champion. She also competed in basketball and volleyball, and was an All-Region selection in both sports.
Paige Blackburn is a civil engineer with the 8th Civil Engineer Squadron at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea. She earned a Master’s in structural engineering from the University of Florida and has served as a construction engineer and engineering flight chief at Joint Base Harbor-Hickam in Honolulu, Hawaii.
