Super senior: WWU track and field star's 8-year college career

If Amanda Short was told in 2014 she would still be competing in college athletics eight years after graduating from high school, she said she would have just laughed, nodded or cried.

Short, originally from Lebanon, Oregon, is a senior javelin thrower on the Western Washington University track and field team.

Injuries, a global pandemic and other personal factors weren’t on her mind then, but they’ve brought her to where she is now.

Short originally attended Western Oregon University after high school on a volleyball scholarship. She had no intentions of competing in javelin despite having done so in high school.

After a visit to campus, Short decided the switch to a Vikings’ uniform was what she needed. She also decided to stop playing volleyball.

The 2022 season started about a month ago and Short has two first-place javelin finishes to show for it so far. She most recently competed at the WWU Invitational at Civic Stadium last weekend where she placed first with a throw of 47.48 meters.