For the first time in as long as she can remember, Liz Brenner is a one-sport athlete.
The former five-sport star and soon-to-be Oregon graduate has been focusing her efforts toward at least two sports since she arrived at the University of Oregon in 2012. In that time, juggling multiple practice schedules has become the norm.
Now, with her tenure as a Duck winding down, Brenner is now able to focus on track and only track for the first time.
“It’s sad, but it’s exciting also,” Brenner said. “I’m excited to get to work on track and see how far it goes and hopefully perform and help my team out.”
Brenner finished third in the women’s javelin Friday at the Oregon Twilight Meet with a toss of 144 feet, 3 inches — about seven feet short of her season-best — in what may be her final meet at Hayward Field. Kaylie Van Loo of Portland won the event with a throw of 161-3, and Oregon junior Annie Whitfield finished fifth at 14-3.
If Brenner is not able to meet the NCAA Championship qualifying mark when she competes at the Pac-12 Championship on May 14, Friday will have marked her last time competing at Hayward. Should it be her final time competing in Eugene, it will close out what has been a roller coaster career for Brenner on the javelin runway.
During her redshirt freshman year in the 2013 outdoor season, Brenner earned All-America honors and placed eighth at the NCAA championships. As it has turned out, that has been her best track season as a collegian, thus far.
Brenner went on to compete with Oregon’s volleyball, basketball, softball and beach volleyball teams over the next four years. She is one of the most accomplished athletes in school history, but while splitting time among so many sports, she had little time to commit to track, especially during the 2015 season.
“I’d have beach volleyball practice in the morning, and then I would have track in the afternoon,” Brenner said. “I think my track coach got more of the negative effects because I would just be very tired. We’re both very excited that I’ve just got javelin to focus on and work on now.”
Brenner hasn’t registered a PR throw since the preliminary round of the NCAA championships in 2014, and if she hopes to make it back to Hayward she will need to see a steep improvement in performance.
Her season-best of 150-1 is her shortest PR for a single season since she got to Oregon.
Brenner’s personal best of 169-1 ranks her fifth in Oregon history. Had she spent a whole career focusing on only javelin, she may have risen even higher. But Brenner isn’t concerned with what ifs.
“Hayward Field is incredible,” Brenner said. “It’s so much fun to get to compete here and be a part of the Oregon track team and just be a part of Oregon in general. I’ve had so much fun over my last five years, and I wouldn’t change a thing.”
