Raise a toast these days to those women of athletic achievement, women of strong quality and appreciated humility.

Golfer Lorena Ochoa, IndyCar driver Danica Patrick and the top three finishers in the Boston Marathon Trials — Deena Kastor, Magdalena Lewy-Boulet and Blake Russell — are the heroes of this past weekend. All are far from finished in their quests. All have more great goals ahead. The three marathoners are set to represent the USA in the Beijing Olympics.

Ochoa is special, my goodness. She’s only 26 and out of a Mexican golf club in Guadalajara. She began playing at 6, won at the University of Arizona, turned professional in 2002 and won immediately. This 5-foot-6 swinger has shot a 62 competitively on the LPGA Tour, has a women’s British Open to her credit, won eight times in 2007 and a record $4 million.

Right now, this fine Mexican player has won five LPGA tournaments, the most recent four weekends in a row. The great Mickey Wright did that too in the 1960s, I believe including the old Tampa Women’s Open at Palma Ceia. Ochoa told the Tribune’s Katherine Smith during her win at Reunion last week that she did not think she would ever get greedy and want and expect to win them all. Of course, in women’s golf, she’s but a tyke. And, there is no successful women’s seniors tour, as with the men.

This star already has done what she needed to do to make it to the Hall of Fame. Ochoa is clearly among the best on the tour these days, apparently passing Annika Sorenstam.

Advancing into the brightest of limelights this weekend past was the racing beauty Patrick, who finally won one in the Indy open seaters in Japan, fulfilling the predictions of her teammates, including Michael Andretti. She already had had finishes of fourth, third and second. She was 10th at the St. Petersburg Prix, with two accidents, but, no first, until this weekend in Japan. She didn’t want to cry after the first win, causing her to say she felt like a “wuss.’’

It’s OK, kid, most of us did, after a first at anything, like a first touchdown to Merle Albritton for the Wauchula Wildcats against Punta Gorda by me. It wasn’t enough. Plenty think the driving career for Danica is only beginning. Track folk believed all she needed was a breakthrough. Has never been afraid of getting her nails dirty or her face oily.

And, that gets us to our three final heroines, the marathoners now with places won on the USA Olympic team. Imagine the training ahead for them? Some of us would hope Kastor, Lewy-Boulet and Russell wish today they’d run the 2008 Olympic Marathon at Boston, finished one-two-three and that it was over. That dadgum marathon is still an eternity in time and forever in length. Kastor ran the painful distance in 2 hours, 29 minutes, 35 seconds. Lewy-Boulet was 44 seconds behind, and Russell was 2:21 behind Lewy-Boulet. The good news is the 1-2-3 finishers got more than a trophy for their sweat. Kastor got $50,000 and a shot at another $10,000 if she starts in the Olympics.

Ochoa and golf? Fine. I did that. Fast cars? Did that out on the Peace River Road in Wauchula with my friends, Vernon See and Lamar Southerland.

But, a marathon? Couldn’t. Wouldn’t. Used to run almost stride for stride with Curtis Ezell to get away from our Wauchula neighbor’s mean, blue-tongued, orange dog about every other day. They told us his bite was poisonous. He never caught me or Curtis, so I don’t know if the bite of Mrs. Maud’s chow was worse than others or not. He would have caught me. Curtis, however, was the fastest man on the Wildcat team.