
‘One of the greatest’ Sloan
8th June 2011
On a cold December day in Washtington, Jeshua Anderson is practising under the watchful gaze of hurdles coach Mark Macdonald and head coach Rick Sloan.
“If you’re looking to get pushed in a workout session, he is always there, and there is nobody on our team that can beat him,” Sloan says. “He’s probably one of the greatest athletes and competitors that we’ve ever had at Washington State University. He is a remarkable talent.”
With two NCAA Championships and three Pac-10 titles under his belt Anderson revealed his secret to his success.
“He’s probably one of the greatest athletes and competitors that we’ve ever had…” Sloan
“You have a mindset that you are going to win. You know what’s going to happen because you’ve done it so much in practice. When you get to the race it is second nature” Said Anderson.
“My biggest thing was to put Washington State on the map. As long as I was showing and wearing the colors proudly, and then doing the best I can performance-wise, that’s all I wanted to do.”
“The one big thing [about the 400-meter hurdles] is there are 10 hurdles in the race and anyone can get off rhythm. Everybody has a little advantage. If you get off rhythm it’s kind of hard to get back into your stride pattern again.”
“I finished the NCAAs and said, ‘Maybe I want to make this move to take my talents to the next level,’ I don’t want to sell myself short, and I didn’t want to close any opportunities or doors that I like to be open.”
“He’s a workaholic,” says Macdonald. “He will do anything. If I called now to say we have practice at five o’clock at Lewiston to run hills, he would be the first one there.”
“The No. 1 thing through every interval and practice session is seeing how he’s feeling so he comes out of it healthy. He can’t win anything if he’s hurt.”