By Morgan Sudduth
Mackenzie Little began her track and field career in high school doing hurdles. Although she loved it, it was on a rainy day like Saturday’s Pac-12 Championship where she stumbled upon an event that would change her career.
“The hurdles was canceled and so I went over to the javelin instead, which was still on in the rain,” said Little. “And then the coach told me to come back.”
Little, an Australian, won the Pac-12 javelin title on the final throw with a mark of 173 feet, 11 inches.
Once Little competed in the evening’s second flight, she took the lead from Oregon State’s Amber Peschka with a debut mark of 169 feet, 11 inches and remained there throughout the rest of the event, beating UCLA senior Zaybree Haury. Haury didn’t come close with her best throw of 160 feet, 4 inches.
Technique had been on the minds of both top placers.
“I kinda knew the weather was gonna be, you know, kind of wet, kind of rainy,” said Haury. “But the plan was to just keep my technique and just keep pushing through the rain.”
Haury did just that with a constant marks above 40m, but it wasn’t enough to beat the newcomer.
Little’s high school coach saw potential in her and has since then been working on her technique, a technique she hopes will take her to new heights. Little plans to compete in regionals and the NCAA championships in hopes that she’ll be able improve on her season’s best and get a personal record.
“I’m loving every minute of it, so I just want to do the best I can,” said Little.
