Following the conclusion of their Indoor Invitational meet on Jan. 10, the women’s track and field team at Weber State University is into the thick of the indoor season. The Wildcats, under the direction of alumna and 2008 Olympian Lindsey Anderson, saw their 2025 highlighted by a return to the conference podium in cross country and continued individual dominance in throwing events.
Anderson sees resilience in the team and believes her competitive experience taught her important lessons that she can pass on to her team.
“When I saw my best success, it wasn’t when I was focused on PRs or getting a personal best at a certain meet,” Anderson said. “Trying to help them stay present with themselves and our goals with our team, what we’re trying to accomplish, and not worry about what everybody else is doing is a big part of what we’re trying to do this year.”
With a second place, 80-point finish at last year’s Big Sky Cross-Country Championships, Weber achieved their highest finish in four years and made a statement of what was to come as Hailey Day and Audrey Caizer both earned All-Conference honors and Danielle Brow took first place in the 5k at the Idaho State University invitational, which the team won along with Utah State University Alumni Classic.
In track and field, Weber came seventh at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships and discus thrower Kapuake’oke’oomele Pulotu repeated as conference champion at 168-feet 8-inches to become the first Weber State woman to win back-to-back Big Sky field titles since Vanessa Wynne in 2003 and 2004.
In total, four Wildcats advanced to the NCAA West First Round meet in College Station, Texas: Pulotu (28th place in discus), Saga Hagelin (16th place in 3,000-meter steeplechase), Laurie Murphy (39th place in 10k) and Miley Richards (41st place in javelin).
Hagelin is already making waves in the early stages of the current indoor season. On Dec. 6, 2025, she posted a 16:13.23 5k at the Boston University Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener, the fifth fastest time in Weber State history. At the Weber State Indoor Invitational, little more than a month later, she broke Brigham Young University’s Melissa Teemant’s 1997 record for the fastest women’s mile at the Stromberg Complex with a time of 4:52.49.
Despite this success, Hagelin, like Anderson, did not focus on how others were performing.
“I believe much more in myself and the training I put in and I don’t compare myself as much with other people,” Hagelin said. “So, it’s easy to compare and get scared for your opponents while here. I have no idea who I’m racing against, and that’s probably pretty good because I don’t come in with as much respect for those times.”
After the Snake River Invitational wraps up on Jan. 16 in Pocatello, Idaho, the Wildcats will head to Seattle, Washington, for the University of Washington Invitational on Jan. 30-31.
