Puc Aims For 800 Title at National Indoor Champion
Mar 11, 2010 | General, Track & Field
Weekly Release
OMAHA, Neb. - Running will take you places. In the case of #Anja Puc#, it took her to Nebraska where the native of Slovenia has become one of UNO's top performers and a threat to win a national championship at the Division II national indoor meet which begins Friday in Albuquerque, N.M.
At the age of 21, Puc, in her third season with the UNO track and field team, has made a habit out of breaking school records. She has twice reset her own record in the 800 meter dash this season, most recently at the Husky Classic at the University of Washington where she ran a time of 2:07.89. That mark is the top time in the nation heading into the national championship meet. What is most remarkable is that Puc had never run the 800 until her sophomore year.
“It's funny to me,” Puc laughed. “My former coach in Slovenia was always saying to me that I would be such a good 800-meter runner, and I was always saying…I don't know about that, but ok. I guess coaches say things for good reasons some times.”
As of 2002, the population of her native city of Medvode was roughly 14,000 people. From those beginnings in eastern Europe, Puc has emerged as one of the top Division II track and field national athletes in the United States. In addition to the nation's top indoor mark in the 800 this year, she ran a personal best in the 800 outdoors, posting a school record time of 2:05.91at the European Team Championships in Bergen, Norway last summer.
Puc has competed in China, Italy and Greece, seeing a wide variety of athletes and competition to prepare her for the competition in the United States.
Though she's easily considered one of the leaders for UNO track and field, Puc doesn't see herself as a standout amongst the talent at UNO but rather as a part of the team.
“I don't really consider myself a leader,” she said. “I just go out there every time I run and try to do better than the last time. I really get excited when we have the conference and national meets because we are out there scoring points as a team. These are the most thrilling events for me.”
It was at the age of 10 that the future All-American would realize her talents. Since competing as a youth for her native country, Puc recalls a time when she had not yet realized that her ability would take her to many new areas of the world for track and field.
“Before I began track, I did cross country skiing…that was a really tough thing,” Puc said. “My family was always into sports. My older sister and I used to do the different sports all the time. Eventually I was talked to about doing track, and I thought it was a good idea.”
On the heels of UNO's second straight MIAA Indoor Conference Championship, Puc and her team will conclude the indoor season in Albuquerque, N.M. on March12-13.
Never seeking less than the best competition, Puc looks forward to the challenge ahead.
“I really love these kinds of competition,” she said. “It seems to me that when I run against the best it always pushes me even harder. I hope that I can help show people that UNO has a good track and field program. I really think that our team, all of us, should get the respect and recognition for being a talented group of athletes.”
