College Athlete of the Week

Published 12:01 am Friday, June 3, 2011

Sport: Track

Hometown: Edmonds (Meadowdale High School)

What she did: Won the NCAA Division II women’s javelin title with a personal-record throw of 163 feet, 6 inches.

What’s next: Gruszecki is planning to graduate this summer with a double major. She will

try to get into teaching as an English-as-a-second-language instructor. She wouldn’t mind teaching in Europe or Asia.

The two-minute drill

This was actually your second national title, having also won one as a freshman in 2007. So how were they different?

I feel like this one I actually deserved, to be perfectly honest. I’m just thankful that I came to Western Washington because my maturity wasn’t there as a freshman and sophomore, and I’ve made a one-eighty. I’ve worked really hard to become better, and I think my marks have shown that.

So how did you win it as a freshman?

I came in with a PR (personal record) of 145 feet, then I threw 145 feet (at nationals), and everyone else didn’t perform. I was seeded fifth coming in, and I threw 145 and won because everyone just had an off day. It was interesting.

Your journey from freshman year to your senior year has also been interesting. What can you tell us about that?

Well, first of all, personally my thing is I don’t want to have any regrets, so if I have an opportunity to do something, I do it. I had an opportunity to go to school overseas (to Philipps University of Marburg, in Germany, in 2009). I have dual citizenship with Germany, so I had the opportunity and I went for it. I enrolled in school there and I didn’t think I was coming back. What happened is that they didn’t take all my credits (from WWU), and I would have been, like, 27 by the time I graduated from there. So I came back to Western and started throwing again.

Why Germany?

I was born there. My parents moved to Seattle when I was 2. They were from Poland originally. I was already fluent in Polish and English, so I ended up taking German and becoming fluent in that.

So you’re trilingual?

Yes.

Tell us the story of how your parents ended up in the U.S.?

When Poland was still a communist country, they knew they wanted out. Being as young as they were, they moved to Germany first because they couldn’t get a visa. They were either going to go to France or the U.S., and my dad walked by the French embassy one day and heard someone speaking French, and he said: “I don’t want to have to learn that language.” So they came here. Almost all of our relatives are still back there, in Poland or Germany.

So did your credits from Philipps transfer back?

Oh, yeah. I’m graduating this summer with 270 credits. That’s quite a bit. I have a double-major, in German and English Lit, and I’m looking to get a certification as a teacher so I can teach ESL (English-as-a-second-language) classes.

Back to the javelin, you actually had to beat one of our recent College Athletes of the Week — Lake Stevens native and Seattle Pacific University junior Brittany Aanstad — to win nationals. Is that a pretty good rivalry?

Yeah, we’ve been neck and neck in the javelin for a while. She bumped me out of … state competition two years in a row. She’s definitely been there all along.

I have to admit, she couldn’t pronounce your last name.

Gruszecki? It throws people off for awhile, but it’s not that hard. If I break it down by syllables — Grew-Zhet-Key — they get it.

So is Brittany the favorite next year?

I think Brittany is going to be an excellent thrower. She has a full year ahead of her, she has a great coach, and I wish her all the best. She’s got the talent. The thing about it this year was, she wasn’t able to PR at nationals, which was too bad. I was able to PR, and that made winning it that much better.

You’re 5-foot-4, which doesn’t seem that common for a javelin thrower. Are there fewer 5-4 javelin throwers or 5-4 basketball stars?

Probably 5-4 basketball stars. I’m somewhat short, but it’s not that big of a difference. Maybe I don’t think of it that way. I never think of myself as short, then I’ll be watching a video of a meet and say: “Wow, I’m pretty little!”

Was basketball ever a part of your repertoire?

Oh, gosh. I played in seventh and eighth grades, and it was the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever done in my life. The few times I got the ball, I tried to score on my own hoop.

You really shot it at the wrong basket?

That’s what happens when you get the ball as rarely as I did. I got the ball, everyone started cheering, so I shot it. I missed, like, three times. I don’t know what’s more embarrassing: shooting at your own basket or missing three straight layups.

With your javelin skills, maybe you should have just hucked it 90 feet toward the other basket.

Yeah, right. They make it pretty easy for you, though.

You could probably make a full-court shot, though, right?

I’ve probably got the arm to do it, but not the accuracy.

— Scott M. Johnson, Herald Writer