Oral History Program Lindsey Anderson Interviewed by Sarah Tooker 5 August 2019 Oral History Program Weber State University Stewart Library Ogden, Utah Lindsey Anderson Interviewed by Sarah Tooker 5 August 2019 Copyright © 2021 by Weber State University, Stewart Library iii Mission Statement The Oral History Program of the Stewart Library was created to preserve the institutional history of Weber State University and the Davis, Ogden and Weber County communities. By conducting carefully researched, recorded, and transcribed interviews, the Oral History Program creates archival oral histories intended for the widest possible use. Interviews are conducted with the goal of eliciting from each participant a full and accurate account of events. The interviews are transcribed, edited for accuracy and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewees (as available), who are encouraged to augment or correct their spoken words. The reviewed and corrected transcripts are indexed, printed, and bound with photographs and illustrative materials as available. The working files, original recording, and archival copies are housed in the University Archives. Project Description The Beyond Suffrage Project was initiated to examine the impact women have had on northern Utah. Weber State University explored and documented women past and present who have influenced the history of the community, the development of education, and are bringing the area forward for the next generation. The project looked at how the 19th Amendment gave women a voice and representation, and was the catalyst for the way women became involved in the progress of the local area. The project examines the 50 years (1870-1920) before the amendment, the decades to follow and how women are making history today. ____________________________________ Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account. It reflects personal opinion offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ____________________________________ Rights Management This work is the property of the Weber State University, Stewart Library Oral History Program. It may be used freely by individuals for research, teaching and personal use as long as this statement of availability is included in the text. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Anderson, Lindsey, an oral history by Sarah Tooker, 5 August 2019, WSU Stewart Library Oral History Program, University Archives, Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, UT. Lindsey Anderson at the 2008 Olympic Trials Lindsey Anderson #8 competing in the 2008 Olympic Trials Lindsey Anderson #8 competing in the 2008 Olympic Trials Lindsey Anderson Circa 2010 1 Abstract: The following is an oral history interview with Lindsey Anderson, conducted on August 5, 2019, by Sarah Tooker. Lindsey discusses her life and her memories of Weber State University, and the impact of the 19th Amendment. ST: Okay, so today is August 5, 2019. This is Sarah Tooker and I am meeting with Lindsey Anderson to discuss her time at Weber State. So Lindsey, when and where were you born? LA: I was born May 23, 1985 in Payson, UT. ST: Okay, and would you talk a little bit about your early life and some historical background on yourself? LA: Sure, my twin sister and I are the oldest of five kids. We were born about a month pre-mature so spent the first few weeks in the hospital before going home. My parents were living in Santaquin, UT at the time where both of their families are from. My dad was a student at BYU at the time. Once he graduated, we moved around a bit for his job but ultimately moved to Morgan, UT when I was in middle school and they have lived there ever since. ST: Okay, do you have any memories that stick out in your mind about that time? Anything that happened to you or some – a funny story that you have that you would like to share with us? LA: I have a lot of glimpses of memories for sure but the earliest clear memories I have are from when we lived in Brigham City, UT. I remember my younger 2 brother rolling down the stairs one day. That stuck in my mind for some reason! That was the beginning of numerous times for him getting hurt. He was a bit accident prone so I have a lot of memories of him falling and hitting his head on anything and everything. I also remember taking swim lessons for the first time while we lived there. ST: Yeah. LA: I also have a lot of memories playing with Angela, my twin sister. After Brigham City we lived in Layton, UT and that is where most of my childhood memories come from. Angela and I were one of the few girls our age in our neighborhood so we grew up playing soccer and other sports/games with all the boys in our neighborhood. We loved soccer. I have so many memories playing soccer out in our yard. Our yard was the central location and had the best rectangular shape to play soccer on. We grew up playing a lot of sports in rec and comp leagues. We did soccer as often as we could but also played other sports. Basketball, volleyball, and others. In our backyard we had a swing set that we got daring on and started doing back flips off the swing. There was also a time when my dad went hunting and brought home a buck that he hung from the swing set to skin and cut up. That was a strong attraction from all the neighborhood kids when it happened! I got asked a lot growing up if I liked being a twin. I never knew and still don’t know how to answer that question. I don’t know any different so yes, I guess I do like being a twin! 3 When we did get to watch TV it was either Saturday morning cartoons or T.G.I.F. shows. Those were the best! We grew up doing a lot of chores and knowing what hard work meant. We could never go play outside until our chores were done and we had practiced the piano for the day. My parents both grew up on farms in the Santaquin, UT area so every summer we would go work on my grandparents farm. Those were tough weeks. I look back and am so glad I had that experience even though I can’t say I loved it at the time! My mom taught piano growing up so we learned how to play the piano at a young age. ST: Okay, and then were you encouraged to pursue an education when you were growing up? LA: Yes I was. My parents have always been pro-education. My dad graduated from BYU when I was a baby. My mom never finished college once my sister and I were born, but has always been very encouraging about getting an education. It was always something that was pretty much expected. ST: Okay, that makes sense. And so do you think that like the playing of all the sports and things when you were younger, did that encourage you to pursue your career? LA: I definitely think it did. It helped create a passion for sports. I mean, soccer was my number one love. But being a part of all different types of sports paved the way for my passion of sports. When I was in high school I played soccer in the fall, basketball in the winter, and track in the spring. After my freshman year I 4 also ran in a few cross country meets while I was playing soccer, but was definitely more focused on soccer. I enjoyed running and was the most successful with running which is what helped me decide to run in college. ST: Okay. That’s awesome. So what degrees and certifications do you have? LA: I graduated in 2007 from Weber State University with my Bachelors degree in Mathematics Teaching. My minor was Physical Education Teaching and Coaching. I recently went back to school for my Masters degree and graduated this past May, 2019 from Idaho State University with my Athletic Administration Master’s degree. ST: Well congratulations. LA: Thank you! It is nice to have done and I am so glad I did it. ST: Yeah, that makes sense. So what are some of the challenges you faced while obtaining your degree? LA: During my time at Weber State I was a student-athlete part of the cross country and track team so that was definitely a challenge balancing school with running and other activities related to being a student-athlete. I also got married during the summer going into my sophomore year so that became a new challenge of balancing everything with my new husband, Mark. He has always been extremely supportive of my running career so that certainly helped that he understood and was supportive of the time that was required in order to be successful. 5 While I was getting my Masters degree it was a totally different time in my life with new challenges. Two young children, Mark going to massage school to become a licensed massage therapist at the same time, working full-time as the head coach of my cross country and track team at the College of Southern Idaho, and training for marathons were all pulling me in different directions. It was certainly a balancing act making time for everything. Luckily I enjoyed doing all of it so I was able to make it work. I thought I was busy when I was going through my time at Weber State. Looking back, I had no idea what busy was yet. As I got older I got better at handling busy schedules. Not taking away from my busy time at Weber State, because at the time that was the most I could handle. But I had to balance a lot more while I was getting my Masters degree. ST: So what mentors or resources did you have available to you in your program and in your career? Like are there any mentors that have stood out to you? LA: On the academic side I felt like I’ve had great teachers and advisors through all of it. Some I liked more than others, but for the most part they were really good. Dr. Caroline Faure from ISU was a big help in working with me during my Masters degree. Mostly though, my husband and kids have been the absolute best support system for me. On the athletic side I have had incredible mentors and coaches helping me through my career as both an athlete and now a coach. Jim Blaisdell recruited me to run at Weber State and I am so glad he was so persistent to get me there. I learned a lot from Chick Hislop while he was there as well. Ultimately 6 though, Paul Pilkington has been the most instrumental in who I was able to become as an athlete and helped shape the kind of coach I want to be. ST: Sounds good. What positions have you held in your career? LA: I have worked a lot of different jobs throughout my life. Ranging from driving tractors on a farm, to waitressing at restaurants, to working in the E.R. at McKay Dee Hospital, to teaching high school math, to assistant coaching, and now I am the head coach of the cross country and track teams at CSI. ST: Okay. So what drew you to Weber State to begin with as a student? And then again as an assistant coach toward your current career? LA: During my senior year of high school when I was deciding where I wanted to go to college, I was talking to a couple different coaches. The one that kept coming back was Coach Blaisdell from Weber State. He was by far the most consistent coach to talk to me and kept after me about going to Weber. He put a lot of effort into recruiting me. I wasn’t the top runner in the state by any means my senior year, but he saw potential in me and really wanted me to come to Weber. Ultimately I knew I had a lot to give still with running and decided to go give it a shot at Weber State. When I first decided to run in college I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do it all four years, but I enjoyed my freshman year so much that I was hooked after that. ST: And so what drew you back as a coach? As wanting to be a coach, you know, at your Alma Mater? 7 LA: So Coach Blaisdell was the one who got me there. Coach Pilkington was the one who helped me fall in love with coaching. As an athlete he helped me go from a pretty good college runner to a nationally ranked college runner and two time All- American my senior year. Breaking the NCAA 3000m Steeplechase record and holding multiple school records. After finishing my collegiate running eligibility he helped me qualify for two World Championship teams in 2007 and 2009 and the 2008 Olympic team. During my professional running career we were living in Ogden and I wanted to continue helping with the team at Weber State so I became a volunteer assistant coach and ended up an assistant coach under Paul Pilkington for the next 8 years. ST: So that worked right out. LA: It did, yes, it did. ST: So, do you want to tell me more about the Olympics and professional running? I would love to hear about it. LA: Definitely. After my senior year at Weber State I signed with Nike as one of their professional athletes. That was a bit surreal for me at first. I never, ever thought I would be a “professional athlete”. It was cool. I got a ton of Nike apparel, shoes, etc. and loved being sponsored by them. I signed with them for three years. During that time I qualified for the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Japan; the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China; and the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, Germany. I did multiple races all over the United States and outside the U.S. as well. It was a unique and special time in my life. Mark was able to come 8 to almost all of my professional races which was really cool for us as well. Being able to qualify for the Olympics was one of the neatest experiences of my life. I went into the 2008 Olympic Trials as one of the top athletes in the 3000m Steeplechase, so I knew I had a good shot at making the team, but had to finish in the top 3 at that race to actually get to go. The Olympic Trials was the best race of my career. Everything felt perfect. I ended up running a personal best of 9:30.75, about 9 seconds faster than my previous PR. Coming down the final straight away in 2nd place knowing I was about to make the team and then crossing the finish line was indescribable and still gives me chills thinking about it. Such a once in a lifetime experience. After those three years my husband and I decided we wanted to start a family and that’s when things slowed down a bit for me athletically and I started coaching more. Once I started coaching here at CSI I decided to start training more seriously again and decided to give the marathon a try. I’ve run three marathons since then and have qualified for the 2020 Olympic Trials to be held this coming February 2020. This time around is more about the experience and giving my kids (Peyton-daughter age 8, Avett-son age 5) a chance to see me run at an Olympic Trials since they weren’t around the first time! Making the team this time around is a long shot but I am hoping to finish somewhere in the top 15 at the Trials. ST: Well, that’s just amazing. Yeah. Anybody who can . . . yeah, I’m just amazed. So what was Weber State like when you were a student? Like the atmosphere and those kinds of things and how you are a coach at a college level now, how would you compare the two? 9 LA: Weber State has changed a lot in the past 12 years since I’ve been there. A lot of construction on campus, new buildings, new football stadium additions, a lot of great things. While I was a student at Weber it was known as more of a commuter school so it had that feel to it but the student council was very involved in student activities and they were constantly doing things to add to the student life experience. I felt like they did a great job and helped pave the way to how the atmosphere feels now. It’s hard to compare Weber State with the College of Southern Idaho, mostly because of the size. Weber is a huge university, CSI is a small community college. There are many differences but at the same time some similarities. I think you get more of one-on-one type experiences at CSI because of the smaller size, but at Weber there is a lot more to offer so pros and cons to both. I’m glad I’ve had the opportunity to experience both. ST: So, with your experience coaching and your professional career, what kind of advice do you have for anybody coming into your field, both the education and also the sports? LA: That’s a good question for me. I’m one of the very small percentage of female head coaches. There’s just not very many cross country and track female head coaches. And I’m proud of that, but it’s also something I’m hopeful will become more common. I go to coaches meetings at the NJCAA level and there are only one or two other females in the room. I hope I can be a mentor and source of advice for other women who strive to be head coaches at some point in their career. The advice I would give to anyone wanting to be a head coach is to get 10 experience. You may have to volunteer for a lot of years gaining experience before you get your chance at a head coaching position. If it’s something you love it’s easier to put in the time so make sure it is something you really want to do. The only way to know if it is is to try it out and gain experience in the process. ST: Okay, that’s great. So what does a typical semester look like for you at your school? It sounds like you’re really busy. LA: Yeah. ST: Would you just give me a run over of what a typical semester looks like? LA: Sure. I’ll give you kind of what our fall semester looks like for cross country since that’s what we’re in right now. During the summer I stay in contact with my athletes on what they should be doing with training and everything but they are living at home and working so it’s mostly long distance communication. The week before school starts in August my team moves to Twin Falls and we have our cross-country camp and other things going on leading up to school. Once school starts we begin racing about every other weekend so we’re travelling off and on throughout the semester. Cross country isn’t quite as much travel as the track season, but still gone quite a bit. We’re mostly gone over the weekend but some meets require us to travel earlier in the week. Throughout the semester I’m constantly in contact with my athletes, professors, administrators, everyone to help my students be successful both academically and athletically. A typical week follows distance runs on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Those days we also do strides, drills, and core workouts. Tuesday and Thursday are our harder 11 workout days followed by lifting in the afternoon. Saturdays are long runs or races. Sunday I usually let my athletes decide if they want to run or just rest that day. The end of the semester gets crazy as athletes are finishing up classes and we are drawing near to either our cross country or track national championships. So just dealing with 30 athletes on a daily basis can be busy! On top of that, like I mentioned before, I’m busy being mom as well. I want to be involved as much as possibly in my kids lives so I’m always balancing coaching with time spent at home. Luckily, coaching is a very family friendly job and Peyton and Avett come with me to work, practice, and meets quite often. Things change up slightly between the Fall and Spring semesters but for the most part our weeks look similar throughout both semesters. ST: So what’s the difference between cross country and track? LA: At the Junior College level the women’s cross country race distance is usually a 5k, the men’s an 8k. At the NCAA level it’s usually 6k for the women and 10k for the men. The thing that changes is the course that we run on. Sometimes it’s a golf course, sometimes it’s on more of a trail. It just depends. During track there are all the different events. So athletes are running different events during the track season including the 800, 1500, 5k, 10k, and 3k steeplechase. There are also the sprinting and field events as well as relays but at CSI we only have cross country and distance track events at the moment. Cross country tends to be more of a team race whereas track is a little more individual. Both are fun and unique in different ways and it’s fun to be able to do both in college. 12 ST: Oh that is fun. And so what committees or organizations either while you were at Weber State or now, are you – have you been a member of? LA: At Weber State I was part of SAAC and enjoyed that. Now, I’m part of some of the different coaches associations across the country. ST: So what recognition have you received for your accomplishments? LA: On the athletic side at Weber State I received a lot of recognition and many awards for my running achievements so that has been a lot of fun! Even inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2017. On the coaching side of things I was named the NJCAA Coach of the Meet at the 2018 NJCAA National XC Championships. That was neat to receive because at the time it was only my second year as a head coach. I hope to receive more of those throughout my coaching career. We’ll see what the future holds! I’m really proud of what I’ve done with starting back up the XC and track program at CSI. It’s been a challenge but extremely rewarding and I’m so proud of what my teams have accomplished in just the past two years. ST: Well that’s fantastic that you were able to revamp that program. That’s really good. LA: Yeah, it is good. I have loved working with my team at CSI. I have big expectations for us. ST: Well I think you’re on your way. LA: Thank you. 13 ST: And let’s see…okay. So this is our last question. I wouldn’t say it’s a strange question, but how do you think women receiving the right to vote shaped or influenced history, your community, and you personally? LA: The first word that comes to mind is: Progress. From where it was to where we are now is progress. We still have a long way to go, but more and more people are seeing the positive things that women can bring everywhere. I think once women set their minds to something, anything is possible. The right to vote was the first step in that. I think that women have so much to offer the world in so many different ways. I love that my daughter can see me being successful in a male dominated profession. I hope it empowers her and helps her realize that she can be anything she wants to be. ST: I agree, it’s influenced everything. So, okay, well Lindsey, that’s all of the questions that I have for you and I appreciate you taking your time to answer these. LA: Anytime, thank you.