The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
University of Miami relay team won MAC
Bay grad, Miami sophomore helps RedHawks capture MAC title in 4x400
Bay graduate runs for the University of Miami, whose relay team won the MAC championship.
Once an all-time great athlete leaves a school, the legacy doesn’t leave with them.
For Bay’s Olivia Bechtel, her legacy at her high school is there forever.
“I talk to my coaches every once in a while and follow some of the results,” Bechtel said about Bay’s track program. “I see how my former teammates are doing and I have some teammates now that have continued to run in college too. It’s fun to watch them, keep in contact and see them at meets.”
At the high school state meet her senior season in 2016, she placed in the 400 meters (55.55), 200 meters (25.54) and finished as a runner-up in the long jump (18-2 ¼). At the Division I regional meet at Amherst that year, she was the only area athlete to win three events, earning her Morning Journal girls Athlete of the Year.
And the sophomore is trying to carve out her own legacy at Miami University.
“It’s gone very well,” Bechtel said. “It was very humbling at first going in because jumping from high school to college is a big difference because there are so many good athletes. But it’s an awesome experience so far and I’ve loved it.”
Bechtel ran a personal record in the 400, running 53.91 at her conference meet, and she anchored the conference-winning 4x400 relay running a 53.4 split.
She was typically a fourevent runner, additionally doing the 200 and 4x100 relay.
Bechtel thrived in the pressure role of running anchor, either to protect a lead or close the gap on someone else.
“I definitely run better when I’m chasing people,” she said. “My splits in the 4x4 were faster than what I ran in the open. It’s a very stressful position to be in, especially in a championship meet. But it’s something I like to do.”
After an impressive freshman season, she won MAC Freshman of the Year. Typically, freshman seasons don’t go as smoothely as Bechtel’s did. But she credits the coaching staff for preparing her. And she’s had a relatively healthy first two seasons.
“It was a very exciting accomplishment,” Bechtel said. “Because at the beginning of the season I had no idea that would even be a possibility. My coach did such a great job of transitioning me from high school to college and helped me drop a lot of time in my 400, particularly, and be able to compete in the 200 also, which I was pretty new to that one. My sprints coach is very easy to get along with and definitely has helped me lower my times so much without getting injured. But he makes sure we are safe and careful with our training.”
With her first two seasons behind her, she wants the next two to be her best and make it to the NCAA regionals.
“Both last year and this year, I’ve been a few places off,” she said. “It’s been frustrating, but it definitely gives me something to work for. That’s definitely a goal and I also want to win a MAC title individually at some point.”
Bechtel is a kinesiology major and wants to go into occupational therapy.
Both of her parents ran and her older sister ran track, and by seventh grade, she was fully invested in the sport.
“I never really did any other sport,” she added. “Once I realized I can be successful in it, it was something that I worked hard for and got excited about.”
While Bechtel is busy carving out a stellar collegiate career, she has advice for her former high school teammates and others at Bay: “Keep working for it and even though things might be against you, don’t let that get to your head,” she said. “It’s not important what you do in the beginning of the season as opposed to the end, and I think that’s big when it comes to injury wise. It can be frustrating, but if you keep working at it, you’re only going to get good results.”