After graduating from East Haven High School in 2016, Annie Coleman recently wrapped up a great freshman year with the indoor and outdoor track programs at Eastern Connecticut State University. Life in the collegiate ranks can be challenging for any athlete, but Annie feels that what she learned with the Yellowjackets helped her adjust to life at a more advanced level.

“[Girls’ track Head Coach Rusty Dunne] definitely set a good foundation for my track career,” Annie says. “Going in to be a collegiate athlete, it’s a different coaching style, and you need to be more focused. It’s more time-consuming, whether it’s early morning lifting, running every afternoon, or a nighttime yoga or swimming workout. We put a lot into it.”

Annie’s freshman year at Eastern Connecticut saw her set several personal records (PRs). During the indoor season, Annie posted her top all-time marks in the 55-meter dash (8.33 seconds), the 60-meter dash (8.90), and the 200-meter dash (29.72). Then in the outdoor campaign, Annie notched PRs in the 100 (13.32) and the 200 (28.66), as well as the pole vault by clearing 8 feet-0.5 inches.

Coach Dunne says that he knew Annie would excel in college because of the character she displayed on a daily basis at East Haven.

“Annie is a strong athlete. She’s not very big, but she’s strong, explosive, super intelligent, easy to coach, learns fast, and is a grinder. She’s a really hard worker,” says Dunne. “Her times improved throughout the whole year. She’s had an excellent career at Eastern, so I’m happy to see what she’s done.”

Annie got out to a head start in her track career as she first competed in middle school after years of being a Little League softball player.

“They’d always say I should try track because I was fast, so in middle school, I started. I tried it and loved it,” says Annie. “All the workouts we do, everybody says they hate running, but you feel really good about yourself after you do it.”

Aside from her various sprinting events, Annie took up the pole vault as a freshman at East Haven. It was a little frightening at first, but as time went on, the pole vault became one of Annie’s signature events.

“Coach Dunne suggested I try it, because we didn’t have any female pole vaulters. It was so much fun and cool to do,” says Annie. “When you first start off, it seems so scary, because you think you’re just going to fly backwards, but you have to tell yourself that you can do it. Once you do it, it’s like nothing else. I thought it was fun, and it works out your upper body, builds leg strength, and you need core strength. It was for sure a good workout.”

Annie’s biggest high school achievement came as a member of the Yellowjackets’ 4x100 relay during her sophomore year. Annie, Megan Kikosicki, Amanda Garcia, and Cailey Korwek qualified for the New Balance Outdoor Nationals, where they posted a season-best time of 50.73 seconds to take 36th place in the nation.

“That was definitely the best experience through my high school track career. That is everyone’s main goal, and not a lot of people get to go there, so when we made the time, it was the greatest accomplishment,” Annie says. “The whole experience was fun...It was a lot fun.”

Annie was also a senior captain for the Easties’ indoor and outdoor track squads. Annie always looked up to the leaders that preceded her, and felt she had a lot to offer the Yellowjackets’ underclass athletes when she stepped into that role.

“We try doing a lot of things together, whether it be pasta dinners or making T-shirts. The 4x100 relay team was close, and we’d decorate our batons and bring everyone together,” Annie says. “It meant a lot to me to be captain. I was hoping I’d be a captain, because I loved track so much. We had Kelli Carfora and Danielle Stevens my freshman year, and they made the team so much fun. I knew that when I was a senior I could do that, and it would be great.”