Friday, March 29, 2024

AdvertiseDonateSubmit
NewsSportsArtsOpinionThe QuadPhotoVideoIllustrationsCartoonsGraphicsThe StackPRIMEEnterpriseInteractivesPodcastsBruinwalkClassifieds

Hurdler Shae Anderson’s transfer to UCLA carries on a family legacy

Sophomore hurdler Shae Anderson transferred from Oregon to UCLA in December 2018. She is slated to compete in the 100-, 200-, 300- and 400-meter hurdles in the 2019-2020 season for the Bruins. (Kanishka Mehra/Assistant Photo editor)

By Vinny Lavalsiti

Sept. 23, 2019 1:56 a.m.

UCLA and Drake Stadium – the track on which Shae Anderson’s father competed nearly 40 years ago – weren’t even a blip on the sophomore’s radar.

The recruit out of Norco High School near Riverside was crowned as CIF champion in the 400- and 300-meter hurdles and named 2016-2017 California Gatorade Girls Track and Field Player of the Year. She owned some of the top high school 400 and 300 hurdle times in California, earning her offers from the sprinting programs of Oregon and USC – the first- and third-place teams at the 2017 NCAA championships, respectively.

Meanwhile, the sprinters for UCLA women’s track and field failed to tally a point at the 2017 NCAA championships and began its search for a new program director in the following offseason.

For the then-high schooler, that meant overlooking the Bruins entirely, despite her dad Mark Anderson being a two-time NCAA All-American in the men’s decathlon in Westwood back in the 1980s.

“UCLA wasn’t an option,” Shae said. “I wasn’t looking at it because the program was not talked about and the program pretty much fell off the face of the earth.”

During her visit to Eugene, Oregon – also known as Tracktown, USA – Shae said she was elated at the prospect of running on storied Hayward Field.

“I really enjoyed my visit to Oregon,” Shae said. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m going to be at the best track program in the NCAA.’”

She said the decision to commit to Oregon was clear as day.

Until a year later when – much like the Oregon skies – it wasn’t.

“The whole team environment was very different from what I was used to,” Shae said. “Being in a big program is not as fun as many people would think. There’s a lot of pressure on you to perform, … and the weather up there wasn’t to my liking. It was really hard for me to adjust and feel at home.”

Shae’s time at Oregon was a far cry from her year-round training regiment in the Southern California sun with her father.

Mark said he had his reservations about his daughter leaving home in the first place and knew the weather would wear on her performance and optimism.

“I knew that going out of California would be difficult on (Shae),” he said. “Her body was not functioning in the rain and in the cold. She was paying a serious price for it. … I knew those things way before she did, but I didn’t want to make the decision for her.”

Despite excelling in her first season with the Ducks, Shae said she was disappointed about not improving upon any of her personal records set in high school.

She decided she needed a change and entered the transfer portal in the summer, hoping to find a new home.

USC was once again at the top of Shae’s list and a 2018 NCAA championship didn’t lessen the Trojans’ appeal.

UCLA still remained an afterthought until its new director of track and field Avery Anderson called Mark.

“We hit it off really well,” Mark said. “(Shae) was still leaning toward USC because she would be joining a team that had just won the national championship. … After Avery and I talked, all of it had changed. It was like flipping a light switch on.”

After the conversation, Shae still wasn’t ready to pack her bags for Westwood. But following her father’s advice to visit UCLA, she said she connected with the Bruins’ coaching staff and had a change of opinion.

“I went on my visit and got to know the coaches really well,” Shae said. “I thought, ‘I could make this work. It really felt like I was at home. … I actually might be going to UCLA.’ And I never thought I’d say that.”

With Shae’s move to UCLA, Mark will now have a more active role in his daughter’s training, which the track and field director said will be instrumental to Shae’s success this coming season and beyond.

“The biggest way (Mark) will play a role is the understanding of what she is, who she is (and) where she came from,” Avery said.

He said Mark will also be a factor in Shae’s success since the former 1981 NCAA men’s decathlon champion raised her to have a mindset focused on high-level performance. And so, with the opportunity to move closer to home and to work with her father and the Bruins’ coaching team, Shae made the transfer in December.

web.anderson.feat.KM.jpg
Like her father, Shae Anderson will compete for the Bruins in Drake Stadium, the home of UCLA track and field. Mark Anderson (right) competed for the Bruins in the 1980s and was a two-time All-American in the men's decathlon. (Left: Kanishka Mehra/Assistant Photo editor; Right: Courtesy of Shae Anderson)

“(My father) knew (Oregon) wasn’t the right program for me,” Shae said. “So, the second time around the recruiting process, I made sure to listen to my dad and what he thought was best.”

Avery said the addition of Shae to UCLA’s roster has already paid dividends in attracting other athletes to the program and will help to build the future of the sprinting side of the program.

“When you get someone here that is successful and competes at a high level and they know athletes they’ve run with since they were kids and up through high school, … that starts momentum in a program,” Avery said. “They can look and see that, ‘Shae Anderson is at UCLA doing her thing. I want to become a part of that.’”

Shae will be competing in the 100, 200, 300 and 400 hurdles and has a chance to earn herself a place on the list of UCLA All-Americans.

Shae’s return to Los Angeles has been a homecoming of sorts for both her and her father. Come the Bruins’ first meet in January, both Shae and Mark Anderson – two generations of Bruin athletes – will grace Drake Stadium together in matching blue and gold.

Share this story:FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Vinny Lavalsiti | Alumnus
Lavalsiti joined the Bruin as a junior transfer in 2018 and contributed until he graduated in 2020. He spent time on the softball, women's basketball, cross country and track & field beats.
Lavalsiti joined the Bruin as a junior transfer in 2018 and contributed until he graduated in 2020. He spent time on the softball, women's basketball, cross country and track & field beats.
COMMENTS
Featured Classifieds
More classifieds »
Related Posts