By Jenny Sanchez
Oregon freshman sprinter and hurdler Shae Anderson has been dreaming about sprinting at Hayward Field since becoming a Duck. That dream came true at Saturday’s Pepsi Team Invitational as Anderson helped her team win the 4×100-meter relay in 43.92 seconds and third in the 200-meter dash in a wind-aided 23.82.
To contribute to her first home-meet jitters, Anderson celebrated her 19th year of life.
“Coming into the track meet, I was pretty pumped because today is my birthday,” Anderson said. “So it is pretty exciting to have a home meet on my birthday and for my first-time ever race running at Hayward Field. I just have a lot of adrenaline running through me today.”
Gusty rain took up most of the events, but the California springer said the weather did not affect her performance too badly.
“I never ran a race before in the rain, but I adjusted pretty well to this weather,” she said. “The water kept going in my eyes. So, it was kind of hard and I just couldn’t see, but I still felt good and I still ran a pretty good race.”
In her first season, Anderson has a goal to record her personal best in every event, go up in the rankings and to compete in the NCAA championships.
As one of the most decorated and accomplished athletes to come out of the state of California in 2017, Slim Shady, as her friends and teammates like to call her, also wants to contribute to Oregon’s team success.
“My main focus for the season right now is the 400 meters, and my PR for that from high school is a 51.99,” she said. “I definitely want to break those personal bests, and to top the season off, I want to contribute to the successes of my fellow teammates.”
