By Nora Coghlan
coghlann17@grinnell.edu
When Cara Bresnahan ’19 stepped onto the field at the Embry-Riddle Spikes Classic in Florida last Friday, she didn’t expect to break the Grinnell record in javelin. And she definitely didn’t expect to shatter her former personal record by 19 feet.
“I knew it was a good throw … I couldn’t tell how far I threw it though. They tell your distance in meters and, so I was like, ‘I have no idea what meters to feet are’ so it was a delayed reaction from when I threw it … but after that I was very excited,” she said.
Bresnahan’s 120.75 foot throw landed her in first place among score-eligible athletes, and shattered Grinnell’s former record of 115.5 feet held by Jordan Young ’14.
“I was expecting to [break my personal record] because I have worked a lot. I was a lot stronger than I was last year, just more training and more lifting and things like that, but I was not expecting to break the record. I didn’t think I was going to [break my personal record] by that much either.”
Though Bresnahan is a lifelong athlete and a long-time track and field competitor, this year marks only her second season competing in javelin, making her win all the more exciting.
“I’ve played soccer since I was … five or six,” she said. “In high school, I started doing cross country because I wanted to get into shape for soccer and I really started liking running and I made a lot of great friends. Instead of doing soccer [that year], I did track … I started field events in high school … and I started [javelin] last year. This is my second season.”
Along with competing in javelin, Bresnahan also competes in the long jump, triple jump and hurdles. And after last weekend, the bar has been set especially high for the rest of the season.
“[I’m looking forward to competing in] javelin the rest of the season. I set the bar a little high though. I’m looking forward to my other events as well, because I’m getting better in everything and I think … everyone else is [too]. I’m excited to see everyone improve as well,” she said.
Not only did Bresnahan compete well in Daytona Beach, but she felt her teammates fighting hard alongside her. Several of her teammates also broke their personal records, something Bresnahan attributes to the fun the group has been having this season.
“I think we’re doing really good lately,” she said. “A lot of people were running really close to their personal records or they were [breaking them … I think a lot of people are just having fun with it.”
