College athlete of the week

Lisa Anderberg

SENIOR | SEATTLE PACIFIC UNIVERSITY

woMEN’S TRACK

Hometown: Edmonds (Kamiak High)

What she did: Ran the 800-meter leg of SPU’s national-champion distance medley relay team at the NCAA Indoor Meet over the weekend. The Falcons’ time of 11:29.88 was 1.41 seconds faster than second-place Shippensburg to give SPU the Division II title.

What’s next: The track outdoor season begins this weekend, with a preview meet at the University of Oregon.

The two-minute drill

Not many Kamiak High grads become national champions. So what do you get for that — a medal? A ribbon?

There’s a little trophy — a little, wooden trophy with a glass centerpiece.

And where is yours?

Right now it’s just on my desk. But it’ll probably be in my parents’ basement once I move out in June.

We’ve heard of the 4×100 and the 4×400, but not many people are familiar with the distance relay. What exactly is that, and is there a strategy other than ‘run faster than everyone else’?

The distance medley relay, which is typically referred to as the DMR, is comprised of the 1,200, the 400, the 800 and then the 1,600. There’s not really any particular strategy. You want to have your stronger runners on the longer legs because there are bigger time differentials in the mile than, say, the 400. It’s nice because the handoffs aren’t quite as difficult as the 4×1 or the 4×4 because you’re not coming in as fast.

Is there any truth to the rumor that you had to run really hard so you could make up for the dead weight that is Jessica Pixler?

(Laughs) Uh … yeah.

We’re kidding, of course. Jessica Pixler is one of the best distance runners in the country. So what’s it like having her as a teammate and training partner?

It’s so great. She’s a great friend. It’s funny: a lot of times, I forget she’s that good. It’s fun to go to meets, like the indoor meet at U-Dub, and there’s all these super-talented people from all over the country, and she still wins. It’s amazing. It’s different when a celebrity-type athlete is one your great friends. It’s been great. She inspirational.

We hear your favorite training partner is your dad, Mike. Did he get you into running?

Yeah, he did. He’s always been running, back as long as I can remember. The other day, I was thinking back like: why did I even start running? I started in seventh grade, but even in sixth grade, I knew I was going to do it. I knew I wanted to be on the cross country and track teams. It’s always been fun, whether we were running in the “Dad and Me” run or other fun runs. We did the Bloomsday every May in Spokane. One year we had a bunch of relatives there; there were 12 of 13 Anderbergs — Grandma, cousins, aunts.

Can your dad still hang with you?

Oh, it’s more like: can I hang with him? I’ve got him on the shorter stuff. But everything longer, he’s really tough. I can beat him in a 5k occasionally. A couple of years ago, I beat him in a 10k. I don’t know how it happened, though.

What’s your favorite run in the Edmonds/Mukilteo area?

That’s tough. I don’t really like a lot of them because there’s so much pavement. If I’m going for a special run, I’ll go to the Redmond Watershed. The trails are great there. It’s a commute, so it has to be a special, long run.

We read that you played the French horn. So how long did it take before you played something for some of your SPU teammates?

I don’t know that I ever shared that with them. They might have come to one of my concerts once. Although, an interesting fact: Doris Heritage, who’s now the assistant track coach here — she used to be the head coach for a long time — she plays the French horn. I remember when I found that out as a recruit. I thought that was really cool.

It’s March, so we have to ask you: who’s in your Final Four?

Y’know, I don’t even know if I could name four NCAA basketball teams that are good. I could name four schools, if you want.

That’s OK. But if there was a Final Four in Distance Medley Relay, SPU would be a pretty good pick, right?

Oh, yeah, definitely.

—Scott M. Johnson, Herald Writer

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