ROCHESTER — Ever since her time at Alexander High School, Hailee Lowe has been a dominant force on the track.
That level of success has continued at Roberts Wesleyan University and this past weekend, she made some more history for the Redhawks.
At the National Christian College Athletic Association Outdoor Track and Field National Championships, Lowe once against shined as she became a national champion and also broke her own Roberts Wesleyan record with a time of 1:03.67 in the 400-meter hurdles. Her record-setting time beat her own mark of 1:03.97, which she set earlier this month at the East Coast Conference Championships.
Also at the NCCAA Championships, Lowe set a new program record in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 0:14.56. That time was good enough for third place in the event.
“Going into the meet, my coach and I knew that as long as I ran my race, I would win,” Lowe said. “I started to get nervous on the line because I was not feeling 100% and it was 90 degrees outside. In the middle of my race, I was nervous because the two girls that were going to be close to me were passing me. They both were ahead of me for the first 200 meters. I knew I had to grind it out and push myself to finish the race. It was a great feeling to accomplish a goal for the season. It was a weird race, I broke my own school record but I felt worse than when I did it about a week ago at my home track. I was very happy with the outcome and I was very happy to see my teammates there to celebrate with me.”
The NCCAA Championships were held at Columbia International University in Columbia, South Carolina.
Lowe also helped lead the Redhawks to the ECC Championship in early May, the program’s eighth title in a row. At the ECC meet, Lowe won both the 400-meter hurdles and the 100-meter hurdles, while she took second in the long jump and fourth in the high jump, contributing 32 points to the Roberts’ win.
Also a member of the Roberts Wesleyan indoor track and field team, the exercise science major was named the school’s Track and Field Redhawk of the Year at the at Reggies on April 30.
Also for her efforts this spring, she was named First-Team All-East Coast Conference for both the 100-meter hurdles and the 400-meter hurdles, as well as the long jump, while she picked up a Second-Team All-ECC selection for the high jump. Lowe was also recognized as an NCCAA Scholar Athlete for both Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field, she earned a USTFCCCA All-East Region Award and was named an Athlete of the Month.
“There were many accomplishments that happened this year and I am honored to receive the awards I have, I would say out of all of the accomplishments I have made, the one I am most proud of is breaking the school record in the 100 (meter) hurdles,” Low said. “Breaking the record in the 400-meter hurdles is a close second. This was not a goal this year. I started the season with a pr of :14.93 seconds and this time was with an illegal wind. I really thought I had hit my peak and started to plateau in the 100 (meter) hurdles because this is not my strongest event. I continued to do this event to keep the form to help with my 400 (meter) hurdle race. It wasn’t until the end of the season that I ran in the 14’s again.
“At the conference meet I ran a 0:14.8 and I was shocked to see this but once again I really did not think I could get any faster,” Lowe added. “When I saw my time in the prelim race at Christian Nationals I was shocked. After that race, I did some searching to find the school record and I saw I had to drop another tenth to get it. I was not sure how the finals race was going to go because I had already been on my feet for two days and had already run a couple of races. I was able to pull it off and run faster than the school record, which was Jen Suhr’s at 0:14.58. It was a pretty special moment and I was able to celebrate with all of my teammates there to push me and cheer me on.”
Lowe currently holds all hurdle records at Roberts Wesleyan — indoor 60-meter hurdles and the outdoor 100-meter hurdles and the 400-meter hurdles.
“I honestly would not be as successful as I am without my teammates and my coaches,” Lowe said. “This year my coach and I came up with a few goals and one was to build confidence in myself. When I was doubting myself, my coaches and teammates were right there bringing back up and pushing me to do better. Continuing to build confidence in myself with help, significantly in my training and performance.”
During the indoor season on Jan. 28, in her first multi-event of the season, Lowe placed third in the pentathlon while setting a new Roberts program record and personal best with 3,172 points at the Youngstown State University Mid-Major Invitational. Lowe set three new personal bests during her multi-event schedule in specific events, including the 800-meter run (2:32.47), the 60-meter hurdles (:09.06), and the shot put (7.60m).
Along with those accomplishment, Lowe also joined the swimming and diving team this winter and would win the 50-yard freestyle against Wells College this past winter, which helped her earn the Athlete of the Month honor.
While at Alexander, between swimming in the winter and track and field in the spring, Lowe garnered seven Genesee Region League all-star nods since 2016 and was and would have had another if the 2020 season wasn’t canceled due to COVID-19.
The Alexander record holder in both of the hurdle events and the pentathlon, Lowe was the Section V Class C champion in the pentathlon in 2019.
Lowe was also a five-time member of the Section V state gymnastics team, she holds the Alexander record for diving — in both the six and 11-dive format — and she was a two-time Genesee Region League diving champion, all while being a 10-time scholar athlete recipient.
“My coach and I already started talking about next year on the way home from Christian Nationals,” Lowe said. “I have a couple of weeks off and then I am back to work for summer training, which includes weights and many miles. We are hoping I can come into the season where I ended this season times/distances-wise. There are a few ideas we are juggling regarding what events to focus on next year. But I am excited to see what my senior year brings for me and all of my teammates.”