Women's Track & Field | February 09, 2017

KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- Shortly after being hired as the new associate head coach in August of 2016 it became very clear to Taryn Sheehan that redshirt freshman Sarah Anderson was not like other athletes.

Before every race Sheehan has the ladies do logs, a written declaration of what they hope to accomplish. Anderson simply writes "I want to win today".

"The great athletes do things differently, they approach their life and everything they do with a great amount of tact, care, and passion," Sheehan said. "Sarah embodies all of those qualities."

Sheehan encourages the girls to dream big and not be afraid of failure.

"A lot of athletes are afraid to say how good that they want to be because if they say it and it doesn't happen then that's scary, but Sarah is not worried about that," Sheehan added.

Andersons' first collegiate track meet resulted in sweet victory. Not only did she place first in the mile, but she also won the 800-meter run, proving to herself just how strong she actually was. For Anderson this was only the beginning, since then she has won two of her last four last races.

Judging from of her success this season you would have no idea of the tough journey she endured to get to this point.

Coming from a family of runners including her grandfather, parents, and big brother it was no surprise that in the seventh grade Anderson started running herself.

Receiving offers as early as freshman year, late in her junior year at the conclusion of the cross country season Anderson realized running collegiately could be a serious option. Around the same time, Western Michigan approached Anderson giving her more drive to have a strong senior season.

"I took visits to two other schools, but when I came to WMU I fell in love with the coaches and the girls on the team," Anderson said.

 After competing in cross country her freshman season at Western Michigan, Anderson sat out the indoor and outdoor track season due to a stress fracture.

"I remember being in so much pain that my trainer took me to get a MRI and when we got the results I just went in my coach's office and cried," Anderson recalled. "You always hear about athletes getting redshirted and I never thought it would be me."

The next six months would be a mental game. Running and competing were completely out of the question so instead coach gave her a training plan consisting of swimming and biking. Which meant in the middle of winter Anderson woke up at five in the morning to walk to the pool and swim for two hours.  After completing swim workouts, she then went to the gym to hop on a bike for even more therapy.

"I kept saying to myself, yes I am on the bike now but if I work really hard on this bike right now and keep working for the next 6 months when I get back I am going to have a great come back," Anderson said.

During that time Anderson was constantly motivated by the success of her teammates like Claire Gilbert.  Anderson admired Gilbert who broke five minutes in the mile, showing Anderson that she could accomplish the same if she continued to go through with the work.

"Not only does she want to do well, she wants to see her teammates also to succeed," Sheehan said "Sometimes she is happier when her teammates win a race than when she wins herself."

After falling short of receiving honors for all conference in cross country. Anderson plans to double up in first place medals.

"I want to show competitors that Sarah is here to win," Anderson said.