PORTLAND, Ore. — Fifth-year senior distance runner Sarah (Hanchett) Dean came from a small school in Vida, Ore. There were 80 students, 13 in her graduating class at McKenzie High School.
"I was terrified of coming to a larger community, especially Portland. I'd never been here," she said.
So for that and other reasons, the 1-A state champion in track enrolled at Eastern Oregon University, where the 4,418 students must have seemed huge. And, she liked it there.
But, as her running career blossomed (two-time all-conference in the 800 and 1,500 and All-American in the indoor 800 meters), she began to think she'd like to try her skill against a higher level of competition. Also, she needed to transfer to complete her Environmental Science major, which was offered at Portland State.
So following her sophomore year, swallowing hard, she enrolled at Portland State with its student population around 30,000, more than double the 11,183 (plus 4,000 college students, one assumes) in the entire city of LaGrande (It helped that her now-husband Justin Dean, also a runner at EOU, was interested in coming to Chiropractic school in Portland).
"The atmosphere here is much more intensive. The training is much more intensive. I'm constantly pushing myself. I like the competition, you know, like at the University of Washington meet…competing with all those people at that level…wow!" Dean said. "I've never been sorry I went there (EOU). On the other hand, I really like the Division I competition."
Dean started running as a little girl…just around the yard. "I'd try to get my sisters to run with me (she's the oldest of four girls—Jennifer, Christine, Scout-- and has two older brothers—Danny and Dave Pittaway--)."
In the 6th grade, she joined the track team and ran the 50-meter hurdles, she recalls with a rueful grin thinking about how far she's come in terms of distances in which she competes.
Along the way, she toyed with volleyball for a year and played basketball in high school for two years. "I was pretty horrible [at basketball], but it was a small school, so you could pretty much do want you wanted. I liked being on a team."
But it was running that really drew her interest. In high school she thought of herself as an 800-meter runner. And, she arrived at PSU expecting to concentrate in her two specialty events, the 800 and 1,500 meters.
Because of back problems, she only competed in cross country in the fall of 2012. She had to sit out the 2013 indoor and outdoor track seasons. As a result, Dean shifted her focus to longer distances.
"I can't do the intensive speed workouts [required for shorter distance]," Dean said. "I can handle and train better with this problem for longer distances."
Although the transition hasn't been without its mental difficulties ("It took a while to get used to running longer distance, but I'm just grateful to be running"), assistant coach in charge of distances
Jonathan Marcus expects her to do well…in fact, exceptionally well.
"She's a special talent. She should score points in the 1,500 and 5,000 and be one of the top ladies in the Big Sky Conference," Marcus said. "As a fifth-year senior, we expect that as a mature athlete, she'll have a big impact…she'll be a big factor in our success.
"She knows what to do in training. She knows how to get the most out of herself. As we say, assemble the little things and that will allow the big things. She's had issues with her back and found a regimen that allowed her to be pain free."
It took a major mind shift on her part, but Dean learned that she's got a big capacity to adapt.
On coming to Portland, she said: "It's about learning to adapt to your surroundings. You embrace where you are. I'm really lucky to be here (but, she said, she'll eventually return to her small town roots).
On her injury and changes to distances, she said: "When I was injured, I was down at first. But, I always take a month or a few months off every year to try to figure out where I am and where I want to go. But then I thought 'if it wasn't this, it would be something else.' All athletes have injuries because they're pushing themselves so hard physically.
"I think it's important that people go through this kind of thing. You learn to adapt. And when I was injured, I just changed what I do athletically…the longer distances over the short. Overcoming adversity is important. I'll be having a bad practice and I'll think 'wait a minute, I have to change my thinking.' So, I'll change my approach and all of a sudden I'm doing much better."
In this year's indoor and outdoor seasons, Marcus expects a lot from Dean.
"She's one of the most versatile runners I've ever coached. She can do anything from the 400 to the 10,000 meters," he said.
Dean will graduate this year and is undecided on exactly what area of environmental science she wants to pursue. She'll take some time working in the field, then probably go to graduate school. She does know generally that she wants to pursue environmental research of some sort.
In running, the highlight so far at PSU was earning All-Big Sky honors with a seventh-place finish at the conference's cross country meet, becoming the program's first All-Big Sky honoree since 1999.
Her goals this winter and spring?…well, "my first goal is to finish the whole year healthy. Then, it's to place well in conference and get points for the team…then outdoors, my goal's to make the regionals."
Assuming she accomplishes her first goal, Marcus sees no reason she shouldn't accomplish the others.
"If she stays healthy, I expect her to break all the school records from the 600 to the 5,000," he said.
It's been quite a journey from Vida to Portland, and Dean has learned a thing or two she'd like to pass on: "It doesn't matter what your background is, you can do well. Just because you come from a small school or had a rough start, you can learn from your situation. I never thought I'd ever run in college. When I was in high school, if someone had said I'd be running Division 1 track, I'd have laughed," she said.
