Moline eyes another memorable performance to make American roster for IAAF World Indoor Championships

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Healthy, happy and hungrier for success than at any point in her professional career, Georganne Moline isn’t hiding her goals or excitement for this year, not only for the 400 meters at the USATF Indoor Championships in New Mexico, but when she returns to outdoor competition in the 400-meter hurdles in the spring.

“I’ve never been more ready in my entire life. I’ve never been more prepared and more stress free,” said Moline, who placed fifth in the 400 hurdles at the 2012 Olympics.

“Seeing these times that I’ve been running and knowing what I have in me, yeah I want to make the World team and go win USAs in the 400, like how amazing would that be?”

Moline enters Saturday’s prelims at the Albuquerque Convention Center with the fastest time by an American this year at 51.39 seconds, a mark she achieved Feb. 9 at the Texas Tech Shootout, which held the world lead until Thursday when Switzerland’s Lea Sprunger clocked 51.28 at the Copernicus Cup in Torun, Poland.

Moline’s performance was nearly a second improvement from her previous indoor 400 personal best and significantly better than her outdoor PR of 51.93, which the former University of Arizona star ran in March in Tucson. She also added a personal-best 23.23 in the 200 in Lubbock, taking second to Harvard junior Gabby Thomas, who equaled the No. 2 time in the world this year by running 22.95.

“For the first time in the last three years, I’m just relaxed. I’m just letting my body do what it does. I’m not even thinking, I’m just letting my body go on autopilot,” Moline said. “That 400 wasn’t the best race of my life at all. There are definitely things I want to change, but that’s the exciting part, because now I know I can run even faster.

“I just focus on how I want to run the race and let the time come. I’m definitely excited to break 51 this weekend, because I know it’s going to come. But I just want to go out there and have fun without any pressure and see what I can do.”

Moline’s impressive performances this season can be attributed to her recovery from both a stress fracture and stress reaction in separate metatarsals in her left foot, which sidelined her from June until October, in addition to the daily presence of reigning NCAA 400 hurdles champion, former Arizona standout, Canadian record holder and fellow Nike professional Sage Watson training in Tucson.

But the biggest reason for her enthusiasm and optimism comes from a renewed confidence and belief that had been missing during the past few years, when injuries, anxiety and doubt didn’t allow Moline to build off the momentum created during her final two years at Arizona and early in her professional career.

“A huge thing is I’ve been such a bad mental state for a couple of years. At the worst, I didn’t understand how to separate Georganne Moline the athlete and Georganne Moline the person. When I did certain things on the track, or I got injured, I felt unworthy as a person,” Moline said. “The least amount of races I could do, the better. I didn’t want to do this because I didn’t want to fail and I didn’t want to let people down. I put too much pressure and expectations on myself.

“There were races I would pull out of because I got so high strung and I started having panic attacks and I would tell myself, ‘I can’t do this.’ I went all the way to Jamaica and pulled out the day of a race. I felt amazing, but I was like, ‘I don’t want to fail,’ so I didn’t even get on the starting line.”

A back injury prevented Moline from competing at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials, but the rehabilitation also helped rebuild her running form with a better understanding of biomechanics.

She rebounded to win the 400 hurdles at the Drake Relays in April, place third at the Prefontaine Classic in May and finish fifth in a personal-best 53.14 in the fastest race in the event’s history at the USATF Outdoor Championships in June, despite running three rounds with her injured left foot, which prevented her from competing on the Diamond League circuit the remainder of the summer.

“I felt it weeks before (nationals), but I was like, ‘I’ll get it checked after USAs.’ But it explains why I cried sometimes at practice. There were days I couldn’t run in practice leading up to USAs. I don’t know how I got through three rounds, but somehow I did,” said Moline, who had her foot heavily taped before each race in Sacramento.

“It wasn’t an option not to go out there and give it everything I had. Through all the injuries and the times mentally where I just didn’t love track for a while and I just put so much pressure and stress on myself, this time I was going to go out and have fun. Even though I didn’t make the (World Championship) team, I was so happy that I ran a PR. It was just a long-time coming.”

The foot injury derailed plans for a second consecutive summer schedule and the hopes of Arizona coach Fred Harvey for Moline to run under 53 seconds in the 400 hurdles, but it also provided all the motivation she needed during fall training and the winter indoor schedule.

“Once October hit, I was all in, and the last couple of months, I’ve been itching to race. I’ve been so excited, because I know what I do in practice and those numbers don’t lie. I knew that I was just ready,” Moline said. “Since I had to end my season so early because of my foot, I wanted to get out and do indoor. Coach Harvey and I agreed it would be beneficial, especially with it being an off year (from a global outdoor championship). I told him, ‘I don’t care, put me somewhere and I’m ready.’ I was just trying to find a place where I could go and pop a good time.”

Following a 52.35 indoor 400 in her opener Jan. 20 at the Larry Wieczorek Invitational in Iowa, and being inspired by Watson setting a Canadian national indoor 300 record 37.08 on Feb. 3 at the NYRR Millrose Games in New York, Moline arrived at Texas Tech ready to showcase what her impressive training and renewed passion for the sport have produced.

“As hurdlers, we never really get the chance to run the open 400, so I think she was finally able to run what she is capable of running,” Watson said. “She has great flat speed and had a great track to run that time on.”

But it was also a valuable learning experience on how Moline is going to need to construct her race in order to compete this weekend against reigning World Outdoor 400 gold medalist Phyllis Francis, defending U.S. Outdoor champion and 2016 World Indoor bronze medalist Quanera Hayes, former NCAA champs Courtney Okolo and Shakima Wimbley, as well as 2016 World Indoor silver medalist Ashley Spencer and four-time World Indoor participant Natasha Hastings.

Moline opened the first 200 at Texas Tech in 24.9 and covered the second lap in 26.4, closing the final 150 in 20.1.

“The first 200 was way too slow. Based on what I’ve been doing in training, 24.3 to 24.5 should be a sweet spot for me and I should still be able to come back strong with a 1.5-second differential,” Moline said. “There are some fast girls and they’re not going to allow me to run 25 seconds the first lap. They’re going to push me to run 24-low the first lap, which is what I want to run.”

Training with Watson, also the Canadian and NCAA record holder in the indoor 500, has provided the ideal preparation for Moline in an attempt to secure an individual or relay berth to represent the U.S. at the IAAF World Indoor Championships on March 2-4 in Birmingham, U.K.

“I really do think that Sage was the missing piece to the puzzle. She is very competitive and that’s something I’ve always lacked in practice,” Moline said. “In practice I was used to being comfortable, because it was just me against the clock, so it’s been really beneficial. She’s pushed me mentally and she’s pushed me physically, so I started to gain something I wasn’t used to.”

Whether or not she earns a spot on the American roster to compete in two weeks in the same part of the world she did nearly six years ago in the Olympics, the success enjoyed during the indoor season has given Moline a glimpse of a promising long-term vision outdoors and her pursuit of American and world records in the 400 hurdles.

“I don’t look at my races as bad or good, I look at them as data. It’s all part of the big picture,” Moline said. “For once in my life, I really believe in myself. I’m having fun. I’m having the time of my life. That’s why these times are coming so easy for me. I ran 51.3 by myself and I was just having fun, so it’s just been amazing.”

Moline’s journey from college star to experienced professional during the past five years has also allowed her to gain a much greater perspective on who she is as both a person and an athlete, along with being reminded of why she values the sport so much.

“I refuse, and I say this so strongly, I refuse to go to another meet and be like, ‘I just want this to be over. I don’t care if I get top three.’ I’m going to give it everything I have, every time I’m out there, because your next race isn’t promised and tomorrow isn’t guaranteed,” Moline said. “I’m the happiest I’ve ever been, the strongest, the fastest, and I’m just in a place I haven’t been in a very long time and I think it’s showing. It’s just really exciting.”