Thompson wins her debut race at the U.S. collegiate level
Marisha Thompson made quite a debut on the NCAA track scene, winning her first collegiate race.
The Norwood native and Florida Atlantic University freshman also earned Conference USA Female Indoor Track Athlete of the Week for the week ending Jan. 17.
Competing at the Blazer Classic indoor meet in Birmingham, Ala., hosted by the University of Alabama, Thompson won the 1,000-metre race. Her time of 2:59.43 was second all-time in FAU history. She’s the second Owl to run it in under three minutes.
“I had never run a 1k let alone an indoor college event,” Thompson said. “I was really surprised. I didn’t expect (to win) at all. I knew what my skills were and that I could try to push the pace.”
It was a boost to her confidence.
“It motivates me to push harder and shows me I have the talent to be able to push hard in these races,” she said.
“I really didn’t know what to expect because it can be a pretty big age gap between a freshman and a senior or even a fifth-year senior.”
She rounded out the season-opening weekend by running the mile in 5:15.14 to place fifth. Her time stands as the sixth best in C-USA.
“I didn’t perform as well as I thought I could in that race but it was a learning experience after running a real hard 1k. I knew I wasn’t going to be at top shape for the mile.”
She impressed her coach.
“Being named runner of the week under any circumstances is a great honour,” stated Owls head track and field coach Alex Smolka, on the FAU Athletics website.
“Given that Marisha is a freshman and received the award for her first collegiate race is awesome. Hopefully, it will give her great confidence for her journey ahead. The road to success is never without ups and downs.”
Thompson competed in her second meet two weeks ago at Clemson University against a larger field.
She ran the mile and won her heat while finishing 10th overall.
“I was really happy with that because it was against some of the bigger schools like the Big 10 schools,” Thompson said.
She also ran the 800 metres, placing third in her heat and 12th overall.
Next up is the C-USA indoor championships Feb. 20 and 21 in Birmingham. They then move outdoors with their first meet March 19 in Miami.
She also competed in the fall cross country season where COVID-19 forced cancellation of two of their four scheduled events.
Thompson placed 42nd over eight kilometres in her first meet at the Blazer Classic in Hoover, Ala. Her second meet was the conference championships, again Hoover, where she placed 20th with a personal best time of 22:31.67 to earn a spot on the All-Conference Third Team.
Her experience at FAU is living up to her expectations.
“I love the team. I love the coach. It’s a really good culture here. Overall, it’s been pretty good. We have online classes, which can be challenging at times, but it’s also nice when you are travelling,” she said.
The student-athletes have to follow strict COVID-19 protocols. They are tested once a week and require two negatives to attend a competition.
“We try our best to stay just within the team. We do daily temperature checks at our facility before we go in and have to fill out a questionnaire asking if we’ve been sick or had any symptoms just to make sure everyone is staying safe,” she said.
She’s not overly concerned about being exposed to COVID.
“We’re doing our part by wearing our masks and doing our temperature checks. I think everyone is doing their part on campus and around the sporting facilities to make sure everyone is safe,” Thompson said.