When Rasha Badrani ran track at San Pasqual High School, it was more about good times than good marks.
“I was average at best,” Badrani said earlier this week. “I loved track in high school for the people. I loved the social aspect of the sport.”
That attitude changed when Badrani reached Cal State San Marcos.
“I realized that in four years, the sport would be behind me,” she said. “The time had come to push myself and see what I had inside me.”
It turns out there was a lot.
Now a junior, Badrani holds three outdoor and two indoor CSUM records. She is the reigning NCAA Division II indoor national champion in the 400-meter and the West Regional Indoor Track Athlete of the Year.
And last weekend, she ran the fastest 400-meter hurdles in the NCAA this season at 57.79 seconds. That’s as fast as Badrani ran the 400 in high school — with no hurdles involved.
“I always loved the sport,” Badrani said while discussing her evolution. “The biggest thing is my mental outlook. In high school, I’d take days off. Now I’m determined every day to be better than the day before, the year before.
“Oh, and there’s the team. I love the feeling inside this team.”
The team concept is very much the foundation of the San Marcos program, coach Torrey Olson said. He coaches both the men’s and women’s teams as though they were one. In a very individual sport, he holds full-team workouts twice a week.
“This year, we’ve had group discussions,” said middle distance runner Nick Melanese, who ed Badrani at the NCAA Division II championships at the end of last season.
“The sport is unique. Sprinters don’t really work out with distance runners, and field event people are a completely different group. Workouts are more individual than group events.
“The team was pretty much fractured the year after the pandemic. It’s been fun watching and being part of the team growing back from that. My favorite times now are when we’re all together on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”
Compared to other track and field programs, Cal State San Marcos comes up short on numbers.
“When it comes to the conference championships, I’ll be happy if we’re third as a team and challenging for second,” said Olson.
But 11 school records have already fallen this season.
Five of those were set — and broken, and set again — by Badrani. She holds the Cougars’ outdoor records in the 200-meter (23.85 seconds), 400-meter (54.67) and 400-meter hurdles (57.79) as well as their indoor records in the 200-meter (24.05) and 400-meter (52.92).
San Marcos’ men have set four new outdoor records this season. Drew Johnson set the 100-meter mark with a time of 10.57 seconds, Will Prouty set a new mark in the hammer throw with a distance of 108 feet, 8 inches, Kalathan Laiwa-McKay set a shot put record at 58-2 1/2, and Johnson, Zavier Hidalgo, Jason Wells and Troy Thompson Jr. set the 4×100 relay mark with a time of 41.20.
Wells is a product of La Costa Canyon High School, while Prouty went to Santana.
The Cougars are just getting started. The goal is to build toward the California Collegiate Association championships on May 28.
“The best part of the season is yet to come,” Olson said. ”Our women’s triple jump group is ranked second in Division II. We’re great in horizontal jumps. And on the men’s side, we’re deep in the relays and our middle-distance group and with Prouty and Laiwa-McKay in the weights.”
Said Malanese: “We’re just getting started in our race-specific training.”
A sprinter at Scripps Ranch High School, Malanese switched to the 800 and 1,500 in college. Though, he its he still thinks like a short-distance runner.
“The 1,500 is my favorite race because there’s more strategy involved,” he said. “Milers are either coming down from longer distances or lengthening out from the sprints. If I go into the last lap competing with a distance runner, I believe I have the edge as a sprinter.”
Badrani’s goal is to compete in both the 400 and the 400 hurdles in the Division II championships, although the hurdles are her priority.
“Rasha sets an extremely high standard for herself,” said Olson. “She was good but not great in high school. But she became very determined. She knocked five seconds off her 400 time in three years. That is very rare.”
Badrani its even she is a bit surprised by her progress.
“I had a high school teammate recently tell me, ‘I didn’t know you are actually good,’” Badrani said. “I’ve gone beyond many of my expectations, but now that I’m here I want to press on and see where it goes. I think the entire team thinks the same way.”
Every week, U-T contributor Bill Center highlights one San Diego college team that’s making strides on and off the field. To nominate a team, email [email protected].
