Photo Courtesy of Susquehanna Athletics
By Marquis Frias, Assistant Sports Editor
As the outdoor track & field season nears closer, multiple Susquehanna athletes are looking to end their collegiate career with a bang.
One of those athletes includes Hannah Alderfer, a senior English-secondary education major from Telford, Pennsylvania. Alderfer is not only a premier talent in the Landmark Conference, but a national talent that also succeeds as a team leader, and she is hoping to continue that this spring.
After strong showings as a first-year, Alderfer would make her first big mark as a Susquehanna athlete when she won the Landmark Conference indoor long jump title with a mark of 5.59, then a school record.
“Long jump is the only event I came into college from high school doing, so it is the one I have the most experience in… [The Long Jump is] I would say I am the most confident in and am usually the most successful in,” Alderfer said.
Alderfer had another strong season her junior year, getting a high placing at almost every event she competed in. Her dominance earned her another indoor Landmark appearance as she placed second in the long jump and third in the 4×200. Her dominance would continue in the outdoor half of the season, where she would win the outdoor Landmark title in the long jump.
Now, in her senior campaign as a team captain, she’s looking to do even better. A strong indoor season helped qualify her for the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships in Rochester, New York, where she finished with a school-record 3,503 points and finished tenth in the pentathlon, securing All-American honors. She joined her teammate Chloe Yoder, who is also a senior.
“I was so grateful to have Chloe competing alongside me on my first national trip,” Alderfer said. “This was her fifth national appearance, so she was giving me advice for the meet and telling me what to expect which helped with the nerves for sure.”
Despite her recent success, Alderfer dealt with numerous obstacles on her rise to dominance.
“My first year of doing the multi, I had to learn a lot of new events,” she said. “Most of them came somewhat naturally to me except for high jump.”
“I also started out my indoor pentathlon career my sophomore year clearing 1.47,” she added. “After that, I could not get anywhere close to that mark for about two years.”
An outdoor nationals appearance could very well be in line for Alderfer. When asked what it would mean to her to make it back and win, she said, “To be completely honest, this is not something that really crossed my mind…I just go into every meet trying to better my own personal score and place as high as I can.”