When she left Georgetown two years ago, Shannon Meisberger had options.
Meisberger wanted to train with UA track and field coach Fred Harvey, who has turned out NCAA standouts and Olympians Sage Watson and Georganne Moline in Meisberger’s event — the hurdles. Her dad, Andrew, even sent her film of how Watson and Moline trained.
Meisberger had Arizona at the top of her list, yet the former Big East Conference runner-up in the 400-meter hurdles didn’t know if the love was mutual.
She talked to Watson and Harvey and decided she’d do everything in her power to become a Wildcat. In August 2018, Meisberger enrolled at the UA — as a walk-on.
It wasn’t long until Harvey put her on scholarship.
“I asked her to take a chance,” Harvey said. “She just worked her butt off, got better and better. And to be perfectly honest with you, when I’m watching, I’m thinking, ‘OK, well, she’s going to be better, but I don’t know how much better she’s going to be.’”
Meisberger stood out during her first outdoor season, shaving more than 2 seconds off her time in the 400 hurdles. She starred in the event, finishing in the top five in the Pac-12 Championships and in the top 20 at the NCAAs.
Meisberger said she was driven to earn a scholarship — but there was something else, too.
“The priority for me was being somewhere where I was happy,” Meisberger said. “It was more I was training with Coach Harvey, training with my teammates. I was really happy and I was just doing my best.”
This year, Meisberger followed up with a strong indoor season that ended early because of the coronavirus pandemic. She finished eighth in the 400 meters in the MPSF Championships. The UA outdoor season was completely canceled.
Shannon Meisberger, center, turns 21 next month and is double-majoring in classics and archaeology at the UA.
The junior’s success has come despite a surge in her asthma. Some of it is exercise induced, but it is mostly aggravated by windy or high pollen-count days. Meisberger uses an inhaler to control her asthma, usually before speed workouts. And if needed, she’ll take a few more puffs in the middle or toward the end of the session.
Meisberger, who turns 21 in July, is double-majoring in classics and archaeology . She plans to earn her doctorate and then either teach or go into a career of museum work or preserving literary texts.
The success, both on the track and in the classroom, is the mark of a perfectionist. Mesiberger and Harvey are working to change that approach in races.
“I was so used to the only way I could actually get better is if I critiqued myself during and after races,” Meisberger said. “I’d race and ‘I bet that this hurdle was wrong. This hurdle was wrong. I can feel the step here.’
“I do that with Coach Harvey, and he’s like, ‘Uh-uh. No, no, no. You don’t worry about that.’ He says that when you constantly are critiquing every single race, you don’t really have time … to celebrate. He says, ‘I’ll worry about those tiny errors, and you shouldn’t be thinking about them during a race. Because you should be focusing on how you’re running.’ I still do it and I try not to, but it’s very much one of those things where it’s like I need to focus on the moment and not on my mistakes.”
It helps that she’s training with Watson and Moline, both of whom have stayed in Tucson after leaving the UA. Meisberger says she tries not to compare herself to the two professionals.
One thing that Harvey can count on for all three is their commitment. And it’s something he looks for in the athletes he coaches. The longtime coach says that “interested” athletes only care when things are going well.
“Committed athletes are the Georgannes of the world, the Sages of the world, the Shannon Meisbergers of the world,” Harvey said. “People where … if you say ‘this is what’s important for you to do,’ they’re going to do everything in their power to get that done.”
