TERRE HAUTE, Ind., (WTWO/WAWV) – Erin Reese, a former Indiana State University Track and Field athlete will compete in the Olympic Trials in June for the 2020 Summer Olympic in Tokyo, Japan.
Reese says she was never interested in the sport until friends and former coaches encouraged her to participate.
“My friend was like no you got to do it. Then there was the track coach when I was finished with basketball. He asked me to get involved in it and I was like okay I’ll do it I’ll give it a shot,” she said.
She said as a high school athlete, she never expected to go this far with the sport.
It wasn’t until her junior year of high school that Reese realized exactly what kind of opportunity she had in her possession.
“I didn’t know what it took to get to college. But I knew in the little meets I was in I was doing pretty good. So I was like alright this is exciting. I’m a competitive person so I want to do this,” Reese said.
Earlier this month, Reese competed in the USA Indoor Track and Field Championship.
She placed third overall after entering the competition in seventh place.
Brandan Bettenhausen, has coached Reese since she was a freshman in college.
He said he thinks the growth he’s witnessed in Reese since college until now is impressive.
“She was not the natural it took her a really long time to learn how to figure out how to throw a hammer and weight. So to see her go from this girl that was falling just about every single day to the ninth best collegiate in history, that’s been a lot of fun to watch and be a part of,” he said.
Reese said she is now focused on the next goal.
“I’m excited for the Olympic trials for sure. I’ve already hit the mark to go. So I’m just ready to go there and just see what I can do,” she said.
When Reese isn’t training for the trials, she works as a care manager at the Hamilton Center. She also works as a volunteer coach for the ISU Track and Field team.
