NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP INFORMATION | ESPN3 COVERAGE
 
EMMITSBURG, Md. (June 7, 2021) – For Mount St. Mary's track & field athlete Brian Sagendorf, he like many other students across the country found their seasons canceled and unsure about their futures with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Without knowing how things would transpire, Sagendorf joined the graveyard shift with UPS, where he worked the remainder of the year. Shifts at peak season reached 17 consecutive hours.

By January, there was a yearning for something different. Or as he put it, "I had some unfinished business."  

Sagendorf re-enrolled at the Mount for the chance to make NCAA Nationals. After qualifying for NCAA's and advancing in the East Preliminaries for the javelin, the Elizabeth, N.J. native gets his opportunity to prove himself among the best in the nation this week in Eugene, Oregon. The road to arrive here has been arduous for the Mount graduate student, now in his sixth year with the program.

"It's been a long journey for me, fighting back from injuries." Sagendorf said. "A UCL tear my freshman year, torn meniscus my sophomore year. It's been a sort of tragedy, I just wanted to end on a real high note."

But where there are tragedies, there have also been triumphs. Before tearing his UCL, he put his imprint on the Mount's record books, ousting a three-year-old mark for the javelin by throwing for 65.65 meters at the 2016 Penn Relays. Sagendorf has since broken his own record three times this season, culminating in his performance at the NCAA East Preliminaries in Jacksonville a few weeks ago.

The East Preliminaries bring together the top 48 student-athletes in each event from all schools east of the Mississippi River, including Power Five level teams, to the University of North Florida. Considered the first of two rounds in the NCAA Track & Field postseason, the top 12 from each event advance to Oregon for nationals, linking up with the top 12 from schools west of the Mississippi.

This was Sagendorf's third qualification to NCAA's, but he came up short of nationals on the first two tries. In 2016 he finished 44^th as a freshman before improving to 32^nd as a senior. The 2021 preliminaries provided him one last chance.

"My mindset changed that I belonged here." Sagendorf said. "I've been here so many times, always throwing at North Florida's track. Some of the bigger schools [would] intimidate me when I was younger, and I didn't know what to do here and there. But with [Jim] Stevenson as my coach, he couldn't have been any better. We just put no expectations on meets. Go out there, have fun and enjoy track again."

The more relaxed attitude paid off on the first try, unorthodox for him based on previous efforts.

"All the past years, I've always been a better late-round thrower. My mother always tells me 'Get it out on the first one!' and as I'm on the runway getting ready to hit my mark, I look at Stevenson. I borrowed a quote from the other guys – 'Gator needs some walking around money!' And it just happened. The throw flew out of my hands. I came back looking to see how far it went, and I didn't know. I hit my left, went over the block, heard 71 meters and went into full kid mode."

The official mark registered at 71.67 meters. Competitors with higher qualifying standards coming in got their chances, but when all results were tallied, he stood in 10^th place, solidifying his trip to nationals.

A trip to Oregon for Sagendorf comes as no surprise to Coach Stevenson, Head Coach of Track & Field, and overseer of the team's throwers. "Brian is an incredible athlete in the whole sense because he's motivated. He works hard. Those given intangibles are non-negotiable items that any athlete here has. The good thing about Brian is he consistently surprises me on his ability to move to a greater stage and have the composure to be on that stage and compete."

He becomes the first Mountaineer to make the trip since Kelly Yanucil in 2016, earning Second Team All-American status by also throwing the javelin. The last Mount man to reach this stage was Tom FitzSimons in 2012, competing in the decathlon.  

Looking ahead, Sagendorf – whose loyalty and passion to the Mount has led to two tattoos on his left thigh, a block 'M' for the school and the phrase 'Send It', shared through his event group – hopes that this run at nationals builds on the standard of excellence embedded at the school and inspires the next generation of athlete to perform at this level.

"The main thing I've always been focused on is a clean, rhythmic runway. From there, keeping my arm speed up and high, and throwing the [javelin] through the point. I still have the drive, my body's holding up and anything can happen."

"For any athlete coming in, you don't know what you're capable of until you actually do it. Only you can motivate yourself to get to the next level. Yes, we have coaches, yes, we put in the work and the hours. Countless amounts of blood, sweat and tears on the track. Eventually it will pay off and I hope that these younger athletes can look up to me as someone who didn't give up. This is my sixth year here – not a lot of people do that. Keep your head straight and let's get it!"

Coach Stevenson echoes many of the sentiments Sagendorf exclaimed for future student-athletes.

"I would say love the Mount. You're here for a reason, so that's a baseline. Number two, love Mount athletics. Number three, track specific, we have core values that we try and thread through. They do work into that, they are real. For Brian and anybody who's on the team. And then just work hard, it's that simple. There's no magic bullet."

Beyond this week and his career as a Mount St. Mary's student-athlete, Sagendorf is eyeing a potential Olympic run and the opportunity to coach in track & field someday. He currently ranks 23^rd in the United States, including professional players, setting himself up for a possible Olympic Trails run.

Sagendorf's quest for a top spot at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships begins Wednesday (June 9) at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon. The men's javelin event will be televised live on ESPN3, beginning at 9:15 p.m. Eastern time.