With the finish line fast approaching, Deanna Sullivan is determined to go out in a blaze of glory with the University of Arizona Wildcats.
"It's now or never for me," said the St. Albert Track and Field Club product. "In Arizona we have the best weight room, the best coaches and the best atmosphere. The environment is ideal for success and that's what I want this year to be. My teammates are there for the same reason too."
Sullivan, 22, is a senior Wildcat after redshirting in 2007.
"Since I'm getting older and I'm thinking about job opportunities, I've been really focused and working real hard through the pre-season, just so there is no excuse for me type of thing. Then I can decide afterwards if I want to continue to run track. If it goes well then I definitely want to," said the seven-time provincial high school gold medallist with the St. Albert Skyhawks.
Last year in the 400 metres Sullivan finished 25th overall in the nation. Her time in the west regionals was 54.43 after going 55.08 in the Pac 10 finals.
"To make the first round of nationals was a big accomplishment. It was the first time I made it that far and it was awesome," said the All-Conference performer in the 400m. "Because I'm older and kind of more focused and experienced on the track I was able to put it all together finally and make it there."
Sullivan finished fifth in her heat at regionals. Her personal best in the 400m is 54.12.
"The girls I ran against were really, really talented. Some of them even went to the Olympics. To be able to run next to them, like I was on the same level as them, was really pretty cool," said the 2004 Tom Longboat Award winner as the aboriginal female athlete of the year in Canada.
Sullivan also ran the third leg on the Wildcats' 4x400 relay team that broke school records indoors (3:39.70) and outdoors (3:33.40).
"We made it through from regionals to nationals and placed 11th in the country," said the 2005 Canada Summer Games bronze medallist in the 400m in the U23 division. "This past year actually the women's track team did really well. We ended up 13th [overall, the best national finish since 2001]."
Focusing on 800m
The queen of the middle distances in high school — she swept the 200m and 400m finals three years in a row at provincials — will now crank it up in the 800m.
"My coach decided to move me up to the 800 as my primary event. I'm still going to run the 400 but the 800 is what I'm focusing on."
Her goal in the 800m is to make the NCAA championships in both indoors and outdoors. Prior to coming home for Christmas, she ran a PB of 2.09 in a time trial.
"I'm hoping to run 2:05 by the time I'm done the outdoor season and I think I can do it."
Sullivan started preparing for the upcoming track season by running cross-country for the Wildcats.
"I wanted to get some endurance and mile training, which was really, really hard for me. Some of our long runs would be eight miles and that was so hard for me but you get used to it really fast. It definitely got me fit as quick as possible."
Senior Wildcat
Sullivan has also assumed a leadership role with the Wildcats as a fifth-year veteran.
"I'm used to being the young one but since I redshirted I feel a lot of my teammates are a lot younger than me. It's kind of different but at the same time it's good. It's kind of making me grow up faster because I know my younger teammates look up to me so that's kind of fun," she said "I still can't believe it's gone by so fast. It's definitely been the fastest five years that I can ever remember. It definitely makes me feel old."
Sullivan was a big deal provincially and nationally when she arrived at the Tucson campus, where palm trees line the track and the weather is too good to be true. In addition to several Athletics Alberta age group female of the year awards, numerous provincial records and Legion national medals, she competed for Canada in the 200m and 400m at the 2005 IAAF U17 World Youth Championships in Morocco.
"Everyone knew who I was here but when I got [to university] nobody knew who I was so I had to kind of make a name for myself," she said. "The biggest lesson or thing that I've learned is to be mentally strong. A lot of the people I run with, like my teammates, are so talented. I'm racing against girls who can beat you by like three seconds. What probably got me through everything was confidence. If you're going to practice every day, and work as hard as you possibly can, you're going to get results. You're going to be fast.
"The sole purpose of the coaches is to make you the best athlete you can be and there is so many resources and opportunities available for you that it's almost impossible to fail. You have to take advantage of everyone around you and just utilize everything you have and try and be the best athlete you can be."
Special graduation
Her last meet at the Tucson campus will be the Pac 10 championships in May, with a berth at regionals hanging in the balance.
"It's the same weekend as my graduation so I'm really excited about it. It will be really cool," said Sullivan, who will graduate with a major in anthropology and a minor in broadcast journalism. "I don't know if I will be able to attend much of my graduation. I will literally be taking my cap and gown off and putting on my competition outfit, but that's OK; I would rather be on the track than anything in the world."
If everything goes according to plan, Sullivan will conclude her university career at the NCAA championships, then return home to gear up for the Canadian championships, June 23 to 26 in Calgary.
"Every year when I come back for the summer, I just hang out and take the rest of the summer off because it's such a long season. This year however my goal is to come back and compete in the Canadian track circuit and go to nationals and run some races in Alberta because I miss it," she said. "A lot of friends and people that I've known for all these years are still running in the Canadian track circuit, and they always say, 'Deanna, I see you're running well but we don't ever see you any more.' This time, if everything goes well, I'm going to come back here and keep running."
