CDH's Megan Linder, a Multitasker

Megan Linder
Photo by
Gene Niemi

As the medal winners for the girls 200 were being herded toward the awards stand on the infield of Klas Field at the MSHL Championships, one of the officials watched Cretin Derham Hall's Megan Linder walk by and said:  "Oh my God. I thought she was done from before."

Linder was one of, if not the, busiest athletes at the Championships as she tripled in the 100(seventh/12.56)-200(third/25.26)-400(first/55.62), finals and heats spread over the two days.  Asked why she takes on such a challenge, Linder said she got something from doing each of the events.  "The 400 is my best, but the 200 is my favorite," she said.  Linder liked the 200 because "it's only half as long(as the 400) so after the 400 it's easy"  and "since it's the last one, you know you're done."

Linder used to play basketball, but gave that up to concentrate on track this year because she believes that is the sport she's most likely to get scholarship offers.  After this past Winter and Spring especially, Linder wants to go to school "not (in) the Midwest," somewhere warm.  She's not set on any academic pursuit yet, but might like to try journalism, she said.

She showed some aptitude for the profession, already having a slogan to explain that she's not one to boast about what she is attempting to do, but one does have to have self confidence and goals to achieve anything.  "Gotta believe it to achieve it" is her mantra.  A junior, Linder has one more year to build her resume.  She worked harder this year to achieve her goals and expects to work even harder in her senior year.

It wasn't until she was a sixth grader that she "started to excel for someone my age," she said.  Linder broke the CDH school record in her first 400 as a freshman on a cold, rainy day with sleet. Won her first  State champ in the event as a sophomore, and the Class AA MSHSL record is a little more than a second faster than her 2013 best of 55.62.  Plus she has sophomore to be Brieasha Hunter, who also runs for CDH and finished third in the State Meet, to train with for another year.

"Gotta believe it to achieve it."