21 Years and 3000 Meters Later, a Record is Broken

By RACHEL SALASKY
Staff Writer

Junior Michelle Lujan of the women’s indoor track and field team broke a 21-year drought of the 3000-meter school record with a time of 10:15.97. A total of 15 laps on an indoor track, a half-lap short of two miles. The key to her success was banana and the loss of her lucky hair bow.
Lujan not only surpassed 2013 Hall of Fame inductee Deborah Springer’s record, she beat her own, knocking about 15 seconds off her normal run time.
The College of Saint Rose Golden Knights made an appearance at Boston University’s Scarlet and White Indoor Invitational, an event Lujan has run in since her freshman year. Lujan came in ninth overall with her record-breaking time. On top of the record, she ran her fastest mile time at 5.11.62.
During the women’s 3000-meter run, the competing women ran the first mile faster than Lujan was accustomed to, but she managed to keep up.
“Instead of telling her to slow down, I said, I believe you can hold this,” said Andrew Rickert, interim head coach for men’s and women’s track and field for the Golden Knights.
Lujan then set another personal record the following weekend in the mile at the Northeast 10 Indoor Championships with a time of 5.10.36, making it her personal best time for the mile.
“Her freshman year, she could barely break six minutes in the mile and now she’s got a chance to break five,” Rickert said.
He speaks highly of Lujan’s work ethic as a runner and how far she has come since her first run as a freshman.
The five-hour break she had between her morning mile race and the evening 3000 during the invitational was crucial to her record-breaking run.
“I just sat and put my feet up against the wall to get the blood flowing,” said Lujan. She also snacked on a banana with a side of peanut butter.
It was after six at night and she was tired and just trying to push through the race.
“As long as I finish I’ll be fine,” said Lujan.
Most races, Lujan forgets what happens, but this time it was different.
During the last mile her bow broke and she finished the race with her long brown hair blowing in the wind trailing close behind her.
“I remember it falling off and I was distracted by that- my lucky bow is out, I can’t find it on the track,” Lujan said. A gold and black bow with the word “Meesh” painted on it, a nickname she received in middle school, and a bow that began its journey in high school.
When she finished the race not only was her best time waiting for her, but her coach as well.
Rickert assumed Lujan was embarrassed to be running with her hair down, but how he described the moment it seemed like it was destined to happen.
“I thought that bow falling out was a metaphor for her cutting loose. I looked at it as though she was a boxer and the gloves came off,” Rickert said.
Afterwards the two joked about it not being a lucky charm after all.
“As soon as I finished my coach had my bow in his hand,” Lujan recalled. She credits her lucky bow for her new record-breaking time, saying that it helped take her mind off of the pain her legs were feeling.
“I think being distracted kind of helps,” she said.
Lujan was so distracted she didn’t realize she broke the 21-year-old school record until she was on the bus heading back to school; however, a former athlete was paying close attention. Springer has been keeping a close eye on the track team since graduating in 1996. Lujan’s leg speed is something that caught her eye when Lujan began running for Saint Rose in 2013. In 1995, Springer set the record at 10.22.91.
“I hope to see them broken. I get excited when I see people get close and when they break it,” said Springer. “When you get that far you have to appreciate it,” she said about Lujan’s accomplishment.
The track team has a social media presence among their alumni. After it was discovered that Lujan broke the record, Rickert immediately notified their Instagram followers.
“A lot of alumni follow us on social media and they love receiving that sort of news,” said Rickert. Alumni like Springer.
Before Lujan was a collegiate record holder, she started running competitively in seventh grade. She credits the start of her running career to her grandfather.
“My grandpa did marathons, so it was always kind of a cool thing if he would let me run with him,” Lujan said. “When I would race with the boys I was always faster than them. I was like, cool! I love runing, and just kind of kept going.”
Rickert believes runners, like Lujan, are the ones that will succeed. The ones who improve the most continue running when practice ends and they do the little things to make them better.
“Michelle is proof that with persistence and goals, the hard work will pay off,” said Rickert. “It also goes to show that self-confidence can make all the difference.”