Most college athletes have participated in their sports their whole lives, but that is not the case with junior Erika Sepich, who walked on to the women’s track and field team her freshman year.
“When I first came to Bradley I wasn’t going to do sports and focus on school,” she said. “But I needed something to do, so I e-mailed the coach and I got to walk on.”
Three years later, Sepich is doing great. This past weekend, she won the javelin throw at Western with a 133’1” throw. She contributes her success in this event to her athletic past.
Sepich said she was happy with her decison to join the team, as it helped her get more involved on campus.
“I played softball my whole life, so my coach suggested throwing javelin,” she said. “I didn’t run track in high school because I chose playing softball.”
Sepich also participates in several other events.
“I do the 100M dash, 4 X 100 and the 200M Dash,” she said. “It keeps me busy and keeps me on my toes.”
So far this year, Sepich has gotten on the Track and Field’s Best List for all of her events: the javelin throw for this past weekend, 100M dash with her time of 13.13 seconds, the 4 X 100M relay with a group time of 51.31 seconds and the 200M dash with 27.25 seconds.
There’s no question Sepich is doing very well for only participating in track for three years.
“This past weekend was my biggest accomplishment, but I’ve come a long way,” she said. “Each meet I’ve gotten better.”
Although Sepich is doing well, she said she has big goals for next season.
“I hope to make the regional conferences,” she said. “I have to improve my time just a little to get there.”
Track and field is a big part of Sepich’s life, it even helped her pick her major.
“I’m a physical therapy major – it just makes sense because I’m around it all the time,” she said.
Sepich said she doesn’t think it is easy to take on both school and be an athlete.
“It’s hard to be a student- athlete, I have to do a lot of my homework on the bus when I’m away,” she said.
Sepich said she doesn’t plan on competing in track after she graduates next year.
“I’ll always run but I don’t plan on continuing with track,” she said. “I’m nervous [to graduate] and I’m currently applying for graduate school for physical therapy.”
Sepich isn’t the only athlete in her family. Both of her parents played sports along with the rest of her family.
“My grandfather is still playing slow pitch ball and my sister played sports all through high school,” she said.
Sepich’s next chance to shine will come this weekend when the team takes on Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind.
The season concludes at the Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championships from May 15-17.
