The University of Idaho Argonaut

Heather Bergland is not your stereotypical collegiate athlete.
She is modest, still gets nervous, has a routine before meets that she follows religiously and is superstitious. One thing she does have in common with most other athletes, however, is a competitive streak.
She hates to lose.
“It doesn’t matter what we do, she doesn’t want to lose,” Idaho coach Wayne Phipps said. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s a race, board game or ultimate Frisbee — she wants to win.”

Bergland has competed in track and field since grade school, but really decided it was the sport for her as a freshman in high school. Today she is a two-time Western Athletic Conference track and field champion.
“I started in relays in grade school, I guess,” Bergland said. “In high school I did the 4X1 (relay), 100 meters, 200 meters and the hurdles.”

Bergland, a junior from Edmonton, Alberta, said she didn’t really compete for her high school though.
“In Canada track isn’t that big in the high schools,” she said. “It is mostly club teams. So if you want to run track you join a club.”
Bergland, who won the 60-meter hurdles at the WAC Indoor Championships with a personal best in the event, said that her best moment in track was her performance at the 2007 indoor championships where she won.

“My best moment would be at indoors last year,” Bergland said. “It was the most exciting because I won and I wasn’t expected to win.”
Bergland said that she would love to compete in track and field as a professional after college but doesn’t consider herself that good, at least not yet.

“I have always wanted to run track professionally. Doing something you love would be awesome,” she said. “It’s hard to think of yourself as that good when your coach is an Olympian, but I do think I may have the potential to be that good.”
Although Bergland realizes her potential, she still gets nervous.

“I still get nervous before every meet,” she said. “If I’m not nervous I normally run poorly.”
If that nervousness doesn’t show up before the race, Bergland has a solution for that too.

“I try to make myself nervous before a race,” she said. “I am very competitive, so I think about the race before hand to get nervous, and it makes me run fast. I hate to lose.”
Phipps said that he thinks Bergland uses losing to her advantage.

“I think not losing for Heather is a motivating factor,” Phipps said. “This sounds funny, but something that sets Heather apart from other athletes is the fact that she’s out to win while others are just out to do their best.”
Superstitions are a taboo subject among many college and professional athletes. From not washing certain articles of clothing, to letting ones hair grow until a loss, superstitions are a part of a sport that grip athletes and rarely lets go.
Bergland is no exception.

“I have a lucky pair of socks I wear. Oh, and I have to have caffeine before the race too,” she said. “I have to have the exact same warm up unless I have a poor performance the week before, then I change it.“
Bergland ran a lifetime-best 8.39 seconds in the preliminary round at the Husky Last Chance Meet to give her the first NCAA provisional qualifying time of her career. She finished second overall with a time of 8.45. Both times eclipsed her previous career best of 8.49 from last year’s Western Athletic Conference Championship.

Bergland’s most important superstition and routine comes in the form of music. More specifically, a single song by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band that she listens to before each meet. The title of which escapes her.
“It’s a song my dad first heard when I was born,” she said. “So I guess it gives me inspiration.”