Sarah Herron ’19 soared to new heights for 欧文康考迪亚大学 and the PacWest conference, becoming the University’s first NCAA Woman of the Year Top 30 honoree.
In 2019, Sarah also 太k Concordia and the PacWest to new lengths, setting school and conference records for the long jump as part of a transformational season for Concordia’s track and field team.
“Sarah rewrote the expectation of what it means to be a track and field athlete at Concordia Irvine,基根·布卢姆菲尔德说, head coach of Concordia’s track and field and cross country teams. “她是学生运动员的典型代表. It was exciting to see her succeed on and off the field.”
莎拉在康科迪亚保持着三项学校记录, 室内跳远, outdoor long jump and with her teammates in the 4 x 400-meter relay. Twice she was the PacWest conference long jump champion. Three times she represented 欧文康考迪亚大学 at Nationals, 排名全国第11位. She was named Concordia’s 2019 Female Athlete of the Year.
Her athletic gifting was obvious from birth, she says.
“我妈妈说我的脚长得像大野兔, 因为它真的很大，而且绝对是平的,莎拉笑着说.
Sarah discovered track and field in elementary school and excelled in sprinting and long jumping.
“If I get enough speed and enough height, it feels like I’m flying,她说。. “I remember feeling as light as air, and strong and powerful. It was an amazing feeling and I wanted to reproduce it.”
After competing for four years at her high school in the Bay Area, Sarah was recruited by Bloomfield to come to 欧文康考迪亚大学.
“We saw a lot of potential athletically and in her character and energy,” the coach says. “We want people like Sarah who have strong character. She was part of our first recruiting class, and we challenged them to grow as a community. 作为队长，萨拉挺身而出. 他们为家庭环境奠定了基础.”
在球场上, 萨拉立即产生了影响, winning gold in long jump at the conference championship in her freshman year.
“Everything we saw in her potential showed up at the biggest stage,” says Bloomfield. 乔斯林画, 田径队的运营总监, 还是跳远和三级跳远的助理教练, 说莎拉成功是因为她善于训练.
“She wanted to be the best, so she listened, trusted us and performed,” 了说.
Success in the long jump requires speeding down the runway, 从木板上炸开, and running with consistent rhythm so not to scratch, 了说. 但萨拉也需要学会耐心.
“Sometimes you want a personal record right then and there, and I would get angry and bummed out if a long jump didn’t go well,莎拉回忆道. “But our coaches taught us to move through the process correctly, 哪条路通向你的目标, 结果. 这让我变得更有耐心. I began to see how all the knowledge my coaches put into me paid off. 我的心态在比赛中发生了变化.”
Drew watched as Sarah “matured and handled situations differently than when she came in,她说。. “One of the coolest areas we saw her grow in was her leadership and ability to draw her teammates, 无论是男性还是女性, 变成了她发展出来的成功模式.”
在场外也是如此, 太, 莎拉在Phi Epsilon Kappa担任领导职务, 运动医学兄弟会, 黑人学生会, 和欧米克隆Delta Kappa, 领导兄弟会. Somehow, with all this activity, she still earned a 3.四年平均绩点71.
“I’m really proud of what I was able to do academically,莎拉说. “I’m thankful for professors and classmates who helped me out.”
Sarah earned second place in the long jump during her sophomore and junior years at the PacWest Championship Meet, 然后在大四的时候回到了最佳状态. She flew more than 20 feet in the long jump and qualified for indoor nationals as one of the top three qualifiers in the nation.
“谈谈那种兴高采烈的感觉，”她说. “我有一种飞翔的感觉, 如此坚强, 对我的形态很有效, 精准地跳跃. 我在天堂.”
But her greatest meet became her greatest heartbreak. 在连续创造了四项个人纪录之后, 打破了运动会记录和体育场记录, 她在跳第五跳时拉伤了腿筋.
“说了那么多的快乐和悲伤，”莎拉说. “I really relied on Coach Drew, teammates and my parents to get me through that, mentally. They kept saying, ‘Don’t let the injury take away from the joy of what you just did.’”
伤病影响了她的季后赛成绩, 但这次会面仍然是她“最骄傲的”, 最珍贵的胜利,她说。. She had earned the PacWest long jump title, capping her collegiate career. It was part of an extraordinary season for the entire team, which broke 13 women’s team school records and six men’s team school records. 甚至更好的, 欧文康考迪亚大学’s women’s track and field team boasted more academic allPacWest honorees — 37 — than any other team in any other sport in the entire conference.
赛季结束后, Sarah learned she had been named a top 30 finalist for the NCAA Woman of the Year award, 在近600名提名者中. 在此之前，PacWest的运动员从未进入过决赛. She traveled to Indianapolis for the awards ceremony and bonded with other women who were nominated.
“It was so great to have a weekend where we could all celebrate each others’ accomplishments and share experiences about our schools, 生活和事业,莎拉说. “我们现在都有群聊. 我今天和他们谈过. NCAA是很棒的东道主，非常友好，非常乐于助人. To be the only PacWest representative to make it that far was very humbling. The PacWest is full of fantastic athletes across all of the teams. I hope I am one of many future CUI and PacWest athletes to represent our program on the big stage."
Sarah is now a physical therapy aide at Webster Orthopedics Sports Physical Therapy and will apply to physical therapy graduate school in the spring of 2021.
“Seeing Sarah become the woman she has is one reason I love coaching,” says Drew. Her success, and the success of the entire team, has everyone soaring.
She wanted to be the best, so she listened, trusted us and performed.