Drew Windle- Under the Radar
"I was a good track athlete on my team, but pretty average by most standards. I broke 2:00 in the 800 one time my junior year..."
From being a late bloomer in high school, to a standout Division two runner, back to being the underrated recruit with little professional interest, to being a World Silver Medalist. This roller coaster of a running career to this moment has been lived by Drew Windle. Representing the Brooks Beast for the last half decade, after winning more than a hand full of Championships with Ashland University, Drew Windle has a storied career starting way back in high school.
During Windle’s high school years of running track and field there was not an immediate connection to run at the next level or post-collegiately. Before stardom, Windle says, “My high school experience was pretty normal up until the end of my senior year. I had played football and baseball for most of my life, and began running track my freshman year. I was a good track athlete on my team, but pretty average by most standards. I broke 2:00 in the 800 one time my junior year, which gave some smaller colleges interest in recruiting me.” Having been just an average high school runner with little attention from colleges Drew Windle would need some massive performances in his senior year. Going into Drew’s final year he set expectations for himself, he says, “With the life long dream of being an NCAA athlete I entered my senior season more focused than ever before. The last three meets of the season I set new PR's of 1:55, 1:53, and 1:51. I ran 1:51 at the state meet, which was good enough to secure the win.” With this new focus on competing in the NCAA the following year, Windle dropped his time by almost 10 seconds in one year. His new personal best of 1:51 in the 800 metres and a state title, Ashland University would steal the recruit of the year. Reminiscing on his recruiting experience, Windle says, “Before my string of PR's I had already committed to Ashland University. Ashland was the only program that offered me any sort of scholarship, but I lucked out that it happened to be the perfect fit for me. Ashland has a great program, great coaches, and compete for team titles more often than not.” Now with his decision behind him of where he would compete in college and his new found speed in the 800 metres, Windle had set himself up perfectly for his collegiate career.
Drew Windle would now transition from High School to Collegiate track with the talent and work ethic to do something special at Ashland. During Windle’s time in collegiate athletics he would collect multiple accolades that he holds close to him. At Ashland University Drew Windle would recall, “My top 3 moments on the track at Ashland were my first individual national title in 2013, which I then followed up with a 4x4 relay national title in the same meet.” These moments would set Windle up for future success where he would run his other memorable memory. He would follow up his first national titles when, “I also picked up a DMR national title in 2014. The individual title was obviously special, and set a standard for myself the rest of my career at Ashland. The two relays are special because sharing that moment with teammates who you work hard with every single day of practice, and dream about crossing the finish line first is something that you collectively speak into existence. It's a lot of fun when the whole plan comes together perfectly.” Having now won his another title, Windle set his standards at a new level with bigger races and challenges to come. During his time at Ashland the goals and standards he set would mentally impact Windle in a negative way. “Most of my struggles at Ashland were self imposed. As I mentioned I set a standard for myself, and with that comes some necessary stress. At the time, I felt like losing a national title would be the end of the world, but in reality no one really would have cared. Some of that stress showed in my racing at national meets. My sophomore indoor and outdoor titles were the only ones I went out to win and win in a commanding fashion. The next 4 titles were just trying to protect what I felt was mine to lose.” This self imposed pressure was a double edged sword throughout Windle’s career at Ashland having both negative and positive affects on him. After a successful Division two campaign in collegiate track and field, Windle felt he was good enough to take the next leap.
With being a Division two star, Windle did not attract the same attention he would have gotten at the Division one level. During his stay at Ashland University Windle would train and race with many good division two runners but at times he would wonder what it would be like to practice and race with people who were equal to his ability. Reflecting on his time in college, Windle says, “I lost very few races after my freshman season, and this created a sense of wonder as to what kind of performances I could throw down if I had the proper training, training partners, and were pushed to my limit in practice and races.” This unknown potential that Drew Windle felt he had left in him would not garner as much attention as he would hope. Lucky for Windle, a situation came to fruition, “Kind of the same way I didn't have a lot of options of picking a school to run track at, the same can be said about my options going pro. I'm very fortunate to catch the eye of my coach, Danny Mackey, who was trying to create a solid developmental group with the right pieces to build into an elite team.” He would continue to say, “Luckily for me, I had already decided in 2013 before I was good enough to go pro, that I wanted to run for Danny and the Brooks Beasts. Again, things fell into my lap, and I wouldn't have changed anything about the way I got to where I am today.” Being able to seize the opportunity, Windle would turn professional after one of the better collegiate careers.
Following his collegiate track career, Windle would move across the United States to train with the Brooks Beasts and start his professional running career. Windle would begin transitioning, saying, “The toughest part for me was just the transition of moving to a big, new city 2,500 miles from home. I hadnt lived more than 60 miles from home at any point so this was quite the transition. Not to mention I moved from a place where it would be odd to not see a horse and buggy during a run, to a place where it would be odd to not see a Tesla. Two very different cities.” This change of lifestyle was monumental for Drew Windle to overcome if he wanted to excel at the next level. He discusses other struggles he would face while transitioning, “Beyond that, there were a lot of transitions nutritionally, training, and biomechanically. All of these factors proved to be an adjustment that took about 18 months to figure out, but when I did figure it out things came together very quickly.” Having to go through these major changes to his everyday routine with running and outside of the sport proved worth it once Windle started to find his footing.
After adjusting to the professional running scene, Drew Windle would find success again at the highest level in the sport. After a few races Windle would realize running Division two was an advantage, “Another benefit is that I raced in very many different types of races and learned to win in various ways. Obviously this is much easier when you're more talented than most of your competitors, but the same things that work in Division 2 races work in professional races as well.” This racing experience would help Windle find success in some of the biggest races of his career. In 2017 Drew Windle would compete at his first World Championship, he reminisces, saying, “Definitely a dream come true to make your first US team. I hadn't necessarily planned to make that team, and had a lot of races lined up directly after the US champs, which I think led me to be a little worn down and over raced heading into worlds.” This moment was instrumental in Windle’s career as it would give him the belief that he could compete at the World level. The following year he would make Worlds again, saying, “The silver medal was a culmination of all the hard work I had put in for 10 plus years. Initially, I was pissed that I wasn't in a better position to grab the win, but when it's all said and done a global medal is special and you can set aside your competitiveness and appreciate the accomplishment.” Coming from being a two minute 800 metre runner in his junior year to being the silver medalist at a World Championship only a few years into his professional career. After a successful 2018 indoor World Championship, Drew Windle would have to deal with injuries over the next few years. Discussing his injury issues, Windle says, “Unfortunately, my career since then has been riddled with injuries, so I haven't quite gotten back to that form to execute at a higher level, but all those lessons learned are still a part of me, and I look forward to the day I get to use them to win a national title, or another global medal.” Even though injuries have plagued Drew Windle the past few years he is keeping his spirits up and looking forward to being back on the podium.
Starting off as a dream to compete at the NCAA level, Windle slowly grew his goals to much larger achievements. From only one offer to a division two school to one offer at the professional level. Drew Windle overcame the odds with determination and passion for the success he wanted with track and field. Windle is not done being an elite runner, a silver medal is still one step below Windle’s expectations for himself.
Direct Quotes via email from Drew Windle to Evan Smith. (May 2020)
Photos via Getty Images.
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