Team support and personal commitment distance Egan from other competitors

From chasing balls down the hill to winning conference championships, Amy Egan has been running her whole life and may very well be running her way into the USU track record books.

“I grew up a tomboy, so whenever we played sports like basketball and the ball rolled down the hill, my brothers would make me go get it. So I have been running a long time in that way, but I started track in junior high,” Egan said.

Egan is a two-sport star for USU as she runs both cross country and track. She also refers to herself a “super junior.”

“This is my fourth year in school but I still have a year and a half left, so I am a super junior,” Egan said.

Running in her final year of eligibility for outdoor track, she is having a sensational season. In the past, she has run the 1500-meter race and the 800-meter, but this year she is focused on the 800-meter race and has already qualified for the NCAA regional meet.

In a race earlier this season at Stanford, Egan set a personal record in the 800-meters and nearly set a school record when she posted a time of 2:09.21.

Although she was just shy of the record, Egan admittedly did not know what the fastest time was and is not concerned about records as much as she is about doing the best she can do and reaching her goals.

“I don’t know for sure what the record is, but my goal is to get a 2:06, and I know that it is slower than a 2:06, so I hope to get it before the season is out,” she said.

According to the 2007 Track and Field media guide, the record, which was set in 2000 by Melissa Jenson, is 2:08.85.

Egan said she was happy to set a personal record in the meet at Stanford and enjoys running against the clock more so than against other runners.

“If I didn’t win a race but I got a personal record, then I knew that I gave everything I had and did the best that I could,” Egan said.

She is especially happy that in her final outdoor track season she is healthy and running well.

“I am just glad I can end on a good note because there was one season when I ran the 1,500-meter and broke the school record and everything was going great, and the next year all of the sudden I was running so slow I couldn’t even qualify for the regional meet, and I saw my teammates go 1-2 in the region and take my record. But you just take the highs of the highs and the lows of the lows,” Egan said.

It is this kind of attitude that has gotten Egan where she is now.

“By not quitting and working through it is just a good feeling to see it through and I am glad I didn’t quit when it got hard,” she said.

Egan said one thing that helped get her through those hard times has been her teammates. She is the first to admit that the girls she runs with push her and inspire her to do better.

“It’s really motivational because if one meet you have a bad race and things don’t go well for you, but you see one of your teammates run through and do well, it gives you motivation because you know that the next meet that could be you. Because you train right there alongside them in practice and you know that it is just a matter of time until you get up alongside them, they also set a standard,” Egan said.

Egan said she loves seeing her teammates do well and she is all about helping the team and supporting everyone else.

“There is a really, really good feel on our team. If someone passes me in a race that’s on my team, then that is good because that means that the team is flowing,” Egan said.

Once she graduates, she said she wants to move to Oregon and become a high school English teacher and track coach. Aside from coaching, she does not plan on running competitively after school but does plan on running in marathons for fun.

“I am going to be one of those old wrinkly ladies running marathons,” Egan said.

If there was one thing Egan has learned from running and her experience, she said it is to never quit in whatever it is she’s doing.

“There are times in my life that I wanted to quit and I am so glad that I didn’t. So many people probably thought I should have quit as well because I was that far away from my goals and my dreams, but because I didn’t quit, it all paid off and I know that if people don’t quit it will be worth it too,” Egan said.

-samabry@cc.usu.edu