It can happen at any moment to any hurdler.
There’s always the risk of clipping the hurdle with every jump while running at top speed. For Army senior Saydee Aganus, the 2018 Kamehameha-Hawaii alumna is back on the same track to begin her outdoor season this weekend where she got clipped exactly one year ago.
“The one thing I remember is my mom stepping over me and being like, ‘Oh my God, it’s so bad,” Aganus said. “I had a gash in my head and yeah, it was bad. It was terrible because my whole family came up from Hawaii just to see me fall. Clipped the hurdle.”
It robbed her of much of her junior outdoor season, but it didn’t take away any of her talent.
Just two weeks ago, Aganus bested her program record in the 60-meter hurdles at the Patriot League Indoor Championships.
Her time of 8.61 seconds in the preliminaries broke her previous mark of 8.64 set in the rivalry meet against Navy as a junior.
She came back to run 8.65 in the final to earn a silver medal.
“I was definitely very happy. I didn’t win, but I got the Army record,” Aganus said. “I told my coaches in the beginning I wanted to go for the record, but going for the record and going for the win was the goal I had in mind. At least I got one thing.”
With the indoor season complete, Aganus and the Black Knights are in California to quickly transition to the outdoor season, where Aganus will compete in the 100-meter hurdles.
It’s a quick turnaround from indoor season. The reality of college track and field is the long hours of training begin in October and the two seasons combine to go all the way to May for the league outdoor championships.
“It’s definitely long,” Aganus said. “You learn to handle it all.”
Aganus grew up on the Big Island, where she excelled in volleyball, basketball and track and field and was named to the 2018 Hall of Honor.
When she received interest from Army in hurdles, nobody was more excited in the family than her father, Phil.
“I didn’t know anything about West Point. My dad knew a lot about West Point, so when I found out I had received interest, he said, ‘Oh, you’re going,’ ” Aganus said. “So we flew out. I really liked the campus. I just knew that I wanted to do something different. I wanted to set up my career for the future. I knew I would get the best education and have no debt out of college.”
She also knew of the military component that comes with it.
Her first year was spent at a prep school before actually making it to West Point.
“That was difficult at first because I knew in my head I’d have to do another year and all of my friends in high school were going to graduate before me,” Aganus said. “But it was beneficial for me to have that year from the military aspect because I had no military background. Prep school gave me a lot of experiences that I could carry over to West Point.”
Her freshman year at West Point was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which also meant a break to go back home and see family.
Since then, her time on the track and field team has included her favorite part of the season — the rivalry meets against Navy.
“That’s probably the most nervous I’ve ever been,” Aganus said. “It’s very competitive, but it’s just surreal, like you have to be there to experience it. It’s such a big rivalry, and being part of that rivalry is a great experience.”
Between the injury suffered at the start of last outdoor season and the pandemic, Aganus hasn’t had a complete outdoor season in her entire college career.
She hopes that will change starting with this weekend’s Ben Brown Invite in Fullerton, Calif.
There are eight other meets before the Patriot League Championships in early May, including the meet at Navy on April 1.
“I’m excited to hopefully have a full outdoor season,” Aganus said. “Breaking 14 seconds is kind of the goal right now, but I also just want to win. We haven’t beaten Navy since I got here. They have a really good track and field program. But I’m a competitive person and winning would be great.”
Aganus has the school’s third-best time in the 100 hurdles with her 14.13 seconds in the Patriot League Championships last season.
Breaking 14 seconds would give her the record.
Even if she’s able to finish her career with multiple track records, Aganus said she’ll remember her career more for the athletes and teammates around her than the times at the top of the record book.
“I’m excited (for the end) but also a little nervous,” Aganus said. “I, of course, want to reach my goals for me, but we also have our team goals. Being around the team, I have a lot of great teammates. I’ve met a lot of great people. I’ve enjoyed my team here a lot because of the people around me.”
SAYDEE AGANUS
Name: Saydee Aganus
School: Army
Class: Senior
Height: 5-foot-7
Events: Sprints/Hurdles
High school: KS-Hawaii (2018)
