Imagine yourself in a 600 meter dash, you are coming up to the second to last turn with 200 meters to go, you get cut off, and you fall on the track. Hard. What would you do?

If you are Heather Dorniden, you get mad, you get up, and you find another gear. Despite her competition having a 10 or 15 meter lead on her with 200 meters to go, and having to move from a standing start while they are in their final sprints, Heather Dorniden managed to not only catch up to the pack but to move right up to the front of it and win her heat. Her second place overall finish managed to bring the University of Minnesota to a Big Ten women’s track & field championship.

A video showing Heather’s fall and comeback follows after the jump. Her race is preceded by an equally amazing 2:05 800 meter run by Michigan’s Geena Gall, where she managed to create some monster separation from the rest of the pack. That 2:05 was a new Big Ten meet record.



Update: I just found an interview of Heather after the race:

“I told myself, you have to get up to at least get a time that will score– the team points were very close and I know everyone was counting on some points in that event. I think anyone else would have done the same thing if they found themselves in my position.”

You can read the whole interview at Down the Back Stretch

(Hat Tip: Jeff in Nashville)