By Becky Hoag
Oregon State’s Devin Collins couldn’t wait to race in the women’s 400-meter hurdles against one of her inspirations, Georganne Moline, at Friday’s Twilight Meet. So when she saw Moline in the bathroom before the race, she had to say hi.
“I was like, ‘Georganne!’ She’s like super sweet,” Collins said. “I’m like, ‘You don’t know me but I grew up watching you on TV’ because I always looked up to her. Always. I watched her all through high school.”
It’s no wonder why Collins is such a fan. Moline placed fifth during the 2012 Olympics in London and she has come back strong recently after major injury. Moline won the Twilight race easily, finishing in 56.09 seconds. Collins was second in 1:00.73.
But Moline was honored that Collins has looked up to her.
“I’m just going out doing the same things that she’s doing,” said Moline, who is sponsored by Nike. “It’s crazy because she was nervous, I bet, and I was freakin’ nervous. I mean, we’re so much alike; I don’t think she realizes, but yeah, that meant a lot to me.”
Collins knew to stay focused and run her own race rather than try to keep up with Moline. She recognized that Moline was on another level and that she has more time in her career to improve her skills. Collins, a senior, plans to continue after college, while engaging in either law or music; she’s not sure yet.
“I’m getting there; I’m working on it, but I’ve got a bit more time,” Collins said.
Even though Moline finished with a large lead, she was dissatisfied with her race.
“I think I overshot my first three steps, and I was so close to the hurdle, and instead of going over I kind of went up,” Moline said. “So then I was really close to my second hurdle, and I was like, ‘Crap!’ so I stuttered. It was a mess from hurdle one and it was not good.”
She wasn’t sure why she was feeling off Friday, especially since her run last week was under much worse weather conditions. Last week at the Drake Relays, she ran 54.56 in the wind, rain and 38 degrees. Moline says that she has been faster after her recovery from her disk herniation in her lower back a week before the Olympic trials last year.
“It’s so easy to forget where I came from, like right now I’m mad, but literally a few months ago I couldn’t even walk,” Moline said.
Immediately after her injury, she was devastated. She was on top after finishing fifth at the 2012 Olympics, and then she was bed-ridden. After her injury, Moline started working with a motion specialist and trusting in her coach to help her recover. She quickly changed her attitude to focus on the positives.
“I always try to see the light at the end of the tunnel and I always want to grow from the situation,” Moline said. “So when that happened to me I was like, ‘No, this is happening for a reason. I can either feel bad for myself, or I can take it and actually learn from it.’”
Moline started focusing on recovering, making sure her diet, sleep and body were optimal. She wasn’t able to run much for the first three months and didn’t start working out again until November.
Besides her coach, she said, one of her biggest supports has been her mom. Moline said that before she even made the 2012 Olympics, her mom made her a Sweeties box that said “future Olympian” with pictures of Moline all over it. Moline’s improvement now is no different; her mom was not surprised that she is so fast now.
“My mom has believed in me before I even believed in myself,” Moline said.
Moline hopes to bring her mom to one of the up-and-coming meets overseas. Her next three meets are in Guadalupe, California; Marseilles, France; and Prague. Then it’s time to train for the U.S. Outdoor Championships in Sacramento.
