ROGERSVILLE — Olivia Spence remembers the day back in February when Cherokee track coach Chad Laster told her he was putting her in the 300-meter hurdles.
“I was a 200 runner, literally from the time I was in sixth grade until my junior year. I also had experience in the 100-meter hurdles from sixth grade until junior year. So, when Laster first told me he was going to put me in the 300-meter hurdles, I thought he was crazy,” Spence said.
“I remember thinking, I can’t run above a 200-meter. That’s insane” she added, laughing.
Now, she couldn’t be more thankful and says it’s that decision that afforded her the opportunity to take her talents to the next level on a track scholarship at East Tennessee State University.
Spence and her mother Tamma Jackson gathered with coaches, teammates, mentors and friends for an intimate — and sometimes emotional — signing ceremony on Tuesday in the Cherokee Little Theater.
“Definitely without Laster, I don’t even know if I would have had the same opportunities. … I was running good 200-meter times, but I’ve felt like a big fish in a small pond, running track my entire life in Rogersville. So, I never really felt like I was good enough to compete at such a high level until I ran those 300s,” Spence said.
“If it wasn’t for him, I don’t think I would have had the opportunity to run for ETSU.”
Spence is expected to tackle the 400 hurdles for the Division 1 Bucs. Though it isn’t something she ever imagined doing, she is looking forward to the challenge.
“I remember the first time I ran the 300s. It was at Cherokee, it was a home meet, and I ran a 58.0 and got dead last. I walked over one of them. And I went to my car, and I cried. That broke me,” she said. “It was frightening. I was really used to winning.”
Instead of giving up, Spence did what she’s done through all of life’s challenges. She picked herself up and went to work.
“I was like, ‘I have to do this.’ I literally progressed every time I ran it. I would PR by a second every time,” Spence said.
She worked herself up to a third-place state ranking and was seeded second in Cherokee’s sectional meet. She was running a great race there in Knoxville until she fell on the last hurdle, dashing any hopes of qualifying for the TSSAA State Track and Field Championships.
“This is redemption time,” she said, referring to the heartbreaking end to her season.
Fortunately for Spence, that sectional came a week after a sunny Saturday afternoon in May when the conditions were just right for runners. It was on that day that she catapulted herself onto the radar of track coaches at numerous colleges and universities.
“All I’ve seen is growth and progress year after year, culminating with the Dan Crowe Relays up in Kingsport at Dobyns-Bennett. She started blowing up the 300-meter hurdles up there. I was watching and filming and thinking, ‘Is she running that fast, or are the other people running that slow?’ Turns out, she was running that fast,” Laster said.
Spence won the 300 hurdles that day in 47.09.
“What she did that day was enough to draw some attention, and here she is now,” Laster said. “This is pretty amazing, and I’m really proud of her.”
Though the calls and emails started rolling in right way, it wasn’t until this summer that ETSU came calling and Spence decided Johnson City was the place for her.
“I really like the coaches there. That’s the main thing,” Spence said. “They seem like great coaches, and it’s in an area where I feel there’s a lot of opportunity.”
She’s already met her roommate and looks forward to the next chapter of her story.
“I’m real excited to meet new people. I’ve lived here my entire life, so I’m really excited for new opportunities. I’m majoring in media communications and minoring in film. I’ve always been interested in creating movies, so I’m looking forward to that — and running, of course.”