Julia Curran-Villarreal is a masters track and field athlete. A graduate of Linton High School, in Schenectady, N.Y. and the State University of Cortland, Curran-Villarreal was a member of her high school track team, but deferred to academic studies while in college. Following college, she lived in NYC, Australia, New Zealand, Brunei, Dubai and Singapore while pursuing a varied career spanning modeling and acting to corporate public relations and writing. She returned to the U.S. in 1998 to be closer to family, marrying Juan Villarreal in 2000 and having two boys.
Curran-Villarreal started competing in the masters arena in 2013 at the age of 53 after a 35-year break from track and field competition. She quickly ascended to top rankings in the W50 high jump. Once turning 55 in 2015, Curran-Villarreal continued her success in the masters arena sweeping gold in all her W55 masters competitions including both the indoor and outdoor USATF National Championships and the 2015 National Senior Games in Michigan. She is currently ranked #1 for US W55.
Curran-Villarreal was also a part of the 2015 USA Team masters team that competed at the World Masters Athletics Championships in Lyon, France in 2015, competing against 15 others countries to place 5th in W50 high jump.
Self-taught in high jump for her first two years of masters competition, Curran-Villarreal increased her attention on training for the sport in 2016, collaborating with technique coach, Ian Dube, and increasing her strength, weight and functional training with her trainers at Neurosport thereby maintaining her national champion ranking for a second year and climbing to top five in the world for W55 high jump for both indoor and outdoor masters track seasons.
In 2015, Curran-Villarreal was named a Top Best Athlete by Atlanta's Best Self Magazine.
Curran-Villarreal is also a soprano soloist, a freelance writer and a professional photographer.
Her sporting accolades are as follows: