TF2K22: Wade Wins

After two cracks in 2019 and 2020 respectively of competing in the 60-meter hurdles at the Wolverine Invitational, Alysse Wade can now add the meet to her growing victory list.

As a freshman she placed seventh in the final and in 2020 Wade was eighth. This year she lineup against competitors from her school as well as Michigan and Bowling Green, Jan. 8, in Ann Arbor.

During the prelim round Michigan's Theresa Mayanja recorded the top time of 8.80. Wade was second at 8.86. In the final round Wade's time of 8.71 finished ahead of Mayanja's 8.73. This was Wade's second win of the season as she won with the same time during her first meet of the 2021-22 season at the GVSU Holiday Open, hosted by Grand Valley State in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Wade is a two-time Mid-American Conference champ. She won the 2020 indoor conference championship in the 60-meter hurdles with a career best time of 8.43. Last season Wade won the 100-meter hurdles with another career best time of 13.87 at the outdoor conference championship meet.

After her second win this season, we caught up with Wade whose 8.71 is currently second best in the Mid-American Conference, behind Northern Illinois' Scout Regular's time of 8.66, recorded at the Jimmy Grant Invite, Dec. 11.

Winners Only: Does it mean a lot for an athlete from the Mid-American Conference to come into a Big Ten facility and get a win over Big Ten competition?

Alysse Wade: Yes it always means a lot to be able to get a win while repping the E [the logo that is prominent on Eastern Michigan's uniform]. But it’s even better doing it so close to home against such good competition.

Describe the difference between your first two hurdles wins? What went right and or wrong in both meets?

My start at Grand Valley State wasn’t good and that’s usually my strong point, so I really focused on that a lot between now and then. Moving forward I just need to work on being cleaner over top because that was my weak point at Michigan.

Was the resurgence in COVID-19 nerve racking to deal with? One team had to pull out of the meet. How are you keeping it together through the threat of having another season possibly stopped?

It was been scary, all that I can do is focus on staying safe and treating every meet as if it’s my last.

Which one of your teammates are you most impressed with and why?

We have a really talented group. I’m impressed with my teammate Kilani Harvey. It’s her first year at Eastern and she’s had huge PRs in the 60 meters in both meets so far. She’s really gonna be tough this year.

Do you feel you are on the way to another championship and what will winning both indoor and outdoor in the same year mean to you?

My goal is definitely to win both indoor and outdoor championships. It would really mean a lot to me because I’ve come such a long way since my freshmen year and I would like to be able to showcase that.

Wade's teammate Kilani Harvey is a transfer athlete who competed for Morehead State las season. At the Wolverine Invitational she placed second in the 60 meters with a time of 7.58. Other notable performances for Eastern Michigan were Nina Ward's win in the high jump at 1.71, Ariel Floyd's dominant victory in the weight throw with a mark of 18.82 and Alisha St. Louis' triple jump first place finish at 11.31.

Floyd's throw of 18.82 is currently 20th best in the nation.