Reigning NCAA Division 3 indoor 400-meter champion gets big opportunity to compete against Division 1 athletes in Des Moines, along with trying to secure her first career relay championship flag for Duhawks at Jim Duncan Track

By Mary Albl of DyeStat

Born and raised in the state of Iowa with a passion for track, Loras College junior Alyssa Pfadenhauer knows when the calendar hits late April, it can only mean one thing.

“Honestly, the other day I started thinking about this again, ‘Wow, it’s Drake season,’” she said. “And I just started thinking about all the Drake memories.”

While Pfadenhauser has yet to experience winning a championship flag at the Drake Relays, the historic event she’s attended since her prep days carries a deeper meaning for her, as it serves as a representation of just how far she’s come as a student-athlete competing in Dubuque, three hours away from Jim Duncan Track in Des Moines.

WATCH 112TH DRAKE RELAYS PRESENTED BY XTREAM POWERED BY MEDIACOM APRIL 28-30

“In high school, I was really nervous to compete down there,” Pfadenhauer said. “But this year now, I’m looking forward to going back to the place I raced at in high school.”

Pfadenhauer has developed into one of the best sprinters in NCAA Division 3, currently the top-ranked athlete in the 400-meters (55.60), No. 7 in the 200 (24.78) and is a member of the Duhawks division-leading 4x400 relay (3:46.01) and second-ranked 4x100 (46.77).

Pfadenhauer is expected to have a busy Friday at the 112th Drake Relays Presented by Xtream and Powered by Mediacom at Drake Stadium.

She will compete at 5:25 p.m. Central Time in the 400 as the only Division 3 competitor in a deep field against several Division 1 standouts, in addition to being scheduled to run for Loras on the 4x100, 4x200 and 4x400.

“I'm just excited that I get to go do it (race) at the blue oval again,” Pfadenhauser said. “It’s kind of like home. The blue oval (in high school) was something we went to every year and it’s something special. Getting the opportunity to go there and compete in the 400, it’s like, use it as a little remembrance of your high school team, your hometown, but also represent your college team, too.”

A multi-sport athlete growing up in the small town of West Burlington, playing travel softball, basketball, and volleyball, Pfadenhauer didn’t pick up running until junior high.

Attending Danville High, she participated in cross country and track and field, but she found her calling as a sprinter.

During her junior year in 2018, she won the 1A state 400 title in 57.05. Her senior year didn’t go as planned – she battled a quadriceps injury – halting forward progress on the track.

Despite the setback, she said Loras head coach Matt Jones was a constant figure, checking in and expressing to Pfadenhauer they still believed in her and wanted her to continue her career as a Duhawk.

“He made sure I could understand that if I’m not ready, they still wanted me on the team,” she said.

With a late start to collegiate training, Jones said Pfadenhauer’s freshman year was a bit of a challenge, with some ups and downs.

During indoors, she helped the Duhawks’ 4x400 qualify for the NCAA Division 3 Indoor National Championships, but never got the opportunity to compete, with the pandemic canceling postseason and the outdoor season competition.

Pfadenhauer said Jones drilled in the message to his athletes to stay prepared and keep continuing to train with a pending season. Jones said Pfadenhauer took that message to heart and used it as an opportunity to build forward momentum.

“It made me realize how much was at stake when they shut nationals down,” she said. “Coach talked to me about if I really put in the work, if I really do the workouts, what that could mean. And I started to see the results, and I liked what I was seeing.”

When the 2020-21 indoor season rolled around, Pfadenhauer was ready.

She hit a personal-best 57.82 in the 400, and continued to progress with a breakout outdoor season. She helped guide the Duhawks to a team national title last year, as she captured runner-up honors in the 400 with a program-record 54.33.

She also was part of the national championship 4x100 (46.18) and third-place 4x400 (3:46.33).

“I could tell through workouts and some of the things she had been doing, she was doing things in workouts that no one else on our team had ever done,” Jones said of Pfadenhauer’s progression. “And she started believing it a little bit when she hit the 56 number for the first time, that was a big weight off her shoulders.”

This past indoor season, en route to a national team championship at JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, N.C., Pfadenhauer earned her first Division 3 individual title, winning the 400 in a program-record 55.52.

She was also part of the championship 4x400 (3:46.45) and runner-up distance medley relay (11.42.35).

“I’ve just pushed myself to a different level,” Pfadenhauer said. “Which helps me in reaching a new time. I don’t want to end up at the end of the race knowing I have more left to give.”

Kassie Parker captured the titles in the 3,000 and 5,000 meters for Loras at the Division 3 Indoor Championships, but one of her proudest moments was teaming with Ellie Osterberger, Merryl Green and Pfadenhauer in the DMR, nearly rallying past Wartburg (11:41.85) on the anchor leg to contribute eight points to their winning total of 59 that secured the first women’s indoor team crown in program history.

“Being part of the DMR team was awesome as well, because that was kind of our secret weapon,” Parker said. “As a team, we felt super confident because no one expected Alyssa to run our 800 leg, and she went out there and crushed it.”

Pfadenhauer has continued that mentality this spring as set herself up to defend her 400 title and the possibility to expand herself even more as she’s posted strong times in the 200 up the 800.

“Her range is just insane,” Jones said. “She ran 2:09 on the DMR, and then she ran 2:13.07 (800-meter) gun to tape in the first outdoor meet. There’s not many kids at this level and maybe D-1 level that run 11.9 and hop up to the 800 and run what she’s running, so it’s crazy. She’s just a very, very talented kid. She works hard, but it helps that she’s got other women around her who she’s very close with and want the same thing.”

Beside the individual accolades, the team success has been just as important to Pfadenhauer in her journey. Although she is not the team cheerleader-type or one to hype up her teammates, Jones said she’s more of a laid back and goofy person who is real with the first person on the roster to the last, fitting in with the unique and winning team culture that the Duhawks have established and maintained.

“They are great students and they hold each other accountable for stuff,” Jones said. “They are pushing each other in workouts and they have the same goals, same work ethic.”

At Drake Relays this weekend, she’ll look to continue her successes individually and for the team, and hopefully create some new special memories on the blue oval.

“I have some goals written down and I want to go and get them,” she said. “Putting the work in not only for myself but for the team goals. The other people on my team definitely make it worth it.”