One of SPU’s youngest sprinters has turned into one of the best, according to head coach Audra Smith.

Renick Meyer has had a long running career.

She started track and field in middle school and continued through high school, while also competing in cross country races.

She has won several titles along the way and has already earned a couple at Seattle Pacific University in her first year at the university. Meyer made her decision to come to SPU after graduating from Barlow High School in Gresham, Oregon.

Before graduating high school, she ended her senior season with 32 first-place victories out of 55 total races and events she has competed in. She also earned a first-place victory in every regular season 100m hurdles race and went on to place No. 2 in hurdles at the Oregon State Championships.

She carried all these achievements to college.

“Well I actually had no interest in SPU, but my best friend was being recruited to run track and asked me if I wanted to come with her on her visit,” Meyer said. “I was like ‘why not’ so I came for a visit and ended up loving it.”

Meyer came to Seattle Pacific ready for competition. She asserted her roles on the team as a sprinter, long jumper and hurdler, but her horizons expanded as she competed in several sprints such as the 100m.

She says it was never her intention to run anything other than the races she competed in during high school, but “it’s fun to switch it up and run a 100m.”
Meyer’s versatility, athleticism and speedy times have earned her a spot in Great Northwest Athletic Conference history.

Two months into the 2017-2018 indoor track and field season, she earned the Women’s Indoor Track and Field Freshman of the Year.

She finished the season with a gold medal in the 60m dash and a silver in 60m hurdles.

“Well, I’m just trying to take it a day at a time, but I know that if I just put my head down and work hard the results will show,” she said.

During the outdoor track and field season Meyer was placed on the 4×100 relay team.

The Falcons 4×100 squad has won over 50 percent of their races this season.
Along with the 4x100m team’s victorious run, Meyer has had a hand in other victories on the team as well.

No woman in the entire GNAC had broken the 25 second mark in the 200m dash this season; Meyer was the first to break the threshold.

She also broke 20 feet in the long jump, scored 5,000 heptathlon points, and won a conference championship in one day earlier this season at the GNAC Multi-event Championships. That was not the only accomplishment she achieved during the championship; she also captured the Great Northwest Athletic Conference heptathlon crown.

Meyer and the Falcons won the Outdoor Track and Field Championship title at the conference. The Falcons finished the two-day event at Western Oregon University’s McArthur field with 154.5 points. Central, which kept it close for most of the day, tied for second place with Concordia-Portland, both earned 121 points.

Meyer played a large role in this victory. She took first in the 100m dash, led the victorious 4×100 relay and then surged in the final 10 meters to win the 200m dash.

This will make Meyer’s three previous weeks of competition riddled with championship performances.

Two weeks ago, the first-year won the heptathlon in Nampa, Idaho, with 5,114 points, the fourth-best score in all of NCAA Division II. With the way Meyer’s season has gone, she will continue into the National Collegiate Athletics Association Division II Championships.

After this season, Meyer said that her future most likely holds three more years of track.

Throughout all this winning, Meyer says her teammates and parents have been the biggest supporter of her.

“I love my teammates so much. Everyone is so supportive of each other and we are like a family … my parents definitely are my biggest supporters. They really help me keep my focus on God and come to as many track meets as they can. Obviously, the coaches want nothing but the best for me as well. They train us all to be the best versions of ourselves,” Meyer said.

Meyer’s first regular season with SPU ended this past weekend and she will move on to the qualifying rounds of NCAA DII Championships, which begin May 24, in Charlotte North Carolina.