UK's Abby Steiner Set Aside Soccer To Focus On Track

By Mary Albl of DyeStat

Late in 2018 after her first collegiate season, Abby Steiner officially broke up with her first love. The University of Kentucky freshman decided it was time to move on from soccer and get more serious about track and field.

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“I made the decision, one and a half months after the soccer season ended,” Steiner said. “I just kind of knew, my heart just wasn’t in it anymore. I’ve been playing soccer since I was 4 years old, and then track kind of took off for me my junior and senior year of high school. It was a lot of self-reflecting and talking with my family about it. Track is really where I see my future and it kind of just came down to that, it’s really what I love to do. It was some tough conversations but for me, personally, I’ve never looked back.”

Steiner is looking forward as she embarks on the Southeastern Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships this Friday and Saturday at Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark., tied with Payton Chadwick of Arkansas for the fastest 200-meter dash in the SEC (22.97) and fourth-fastest in the NCAA. She holds a top 25 time in the 60 (7.30) and is part of a powerful Wildcats relay in the 4x400.

“They aren’t kidding when they say that the SEC is the best conference in track,” Steiner said. “But I love that about it just because you know when you go to a meet with another SEC school you're going to get pushed and you’re going to get good competition. It can be intimidating (but) I love the competition.”

Steiner came UK last summer with an ambitious plan -- to play both Division 1 soccer and track and field.

Her history backed up the plan. A prep standout from Dublin, Ohio, she played for Ohio Premier, one of the top soccer programs in the country, while simultaneously becoming one of the best prep sprinters in Ohio history. She ended her senior outdoor season clocking 22.73 in the 200, an Ohio record that made her the sixth-fastest sprinter in U.S. prep history. She left Ohio as a 16-time state champ.

“When I had committed (to Kentucky), we kind of came to an agreement that during soccer season I was just going to be doing soccer, and then during track season I was just going to be doing track,” Steiner said. “Because honestly, in a season, you really don’t have time for a lot of other things.”

Steiner finished her first collegiate soccer season last fall starting every game and making the All-SEC Freshman team, recording one goal and one assist.

“I think the soccer season ended October 25, and then I remember it was on a Thursday and I went home for the weekend, to Columbus, a three-hour drive,” Steiner said. “And then I started lifting with track at 6 a.m. that Monday,” Steiner explained. “So, I had a weekend to get ready for track.”

But just like in high school, Steiner’s transition from one sport to another was seamless. She said she was nervous coming into her first fall training with the track season. 

“It is such different types of being in shape,” Steiner said. “Me and my coach always joke that I’m still getting rid of my soccer legs and getting my track legs back.”

It’s safe to save her track legs are here to stay. It was during that late fall/early winter that Steiner made the decision to focus exclusively on track.

Steiner’s impact on the collegiate track and field scene has been immediate. Her first collegiate competition was at the Kentucky Jim Green Invitational, where she won the 200 (23.59) and 60 (7.38). Steiner explained being a part of a team that has become well-known for sprinting, including New Balance professional Sydney McLaughlin’s one-and-done season in 2018, and current senior Kianna Gray, has pushed her every day.

“It’s really about making the most of every practice session,” Steiner said. “Just making sure I’m dialed in for every practice is huge and working on the weaknesses I have, like my block start.”

With the 2020 Olympics looming, Steiner said it is a goal of hers to try and qualify for the U.S. Trials, but it didn’t factor in to her decision to focus on one sport.

“That’s definitely on my mind, but it really came down to my heart’s in track,” Steiner said. “Even if the 2020 Olympics wasn’t a thing, that’s just where I see myself in the future and what I want to do for years to come.”

And now, with her focus just on one sport, who knows how fast Steiner can run.

“I’m beyond excited for this season and what’s to come,” she said.