Mallory Hiefield is the Assistant Athlete Director/Senior Woman Administrator at Pacific University. She is talking on Wednesday, October 14 at 11:45 am in Marsh 216. This interview was part of MEDA 240, conducted by Clark Marshall.
Clark Marshall: You have a really storied history with sports. Obviously you’re most well known for lacrosse, where in 2015 and 2016 you and the team won the Northwest Conference Championships, but you also from a very young age seemed to have enjoyed Cross Country and even some rock climbing, what exactly has driven you from such a young age to be such a versatile and dedicated athlete?
Mallory Hiefiled: That’s hard. I mean, I’ve always loved sports, and I think growing up being part of sports teams was just a big part of who I was. Little league, middle school, but then in high school sports are something almost everyone does. You go to school, and then after school you go to practice. The people on that team were great, they were the people I spent the most time with, many of them were great friends.
CM: Who inspired you to be such a dedicated athlete?
MH: Mostly coaches for sure. I mean, my high school cross country coach was very dedicated. Big inspiration for me. Her name was Rebecca Martin. We were high schoolers, but she trained us like we were professionals. Making sure to work us hard but also make sure we had that balanced lifestyle. If you’re struggling in other parts of your life, you won’t get good times on the field.
CM: What was it like, balancing a social life, being Student Senate President, and being an athlete on top of your education?
MH: I think my hardest year academically was junior year. I tried to really pile it on that year so I could have an easier senior year, and it was hard, but that break during senior year to focus on the things I really cared about and the subjects I really wanted to pursue at a high level was nice. But I think what really helped was how tight knit Pacific is. It was awesome being able to connect with people, fellow students and staff alike.
CM: What has it been like, going from the position of Athlete to Assistant Athletic Director, anything that really surprised you?
MH: The biggest surprise was as an athlete, you’re not really thinking about the logistics. I just wanna go out there and do my best, but as an AAD, I really want the kids to do their best as well, but it comes with a lot of strings and rules and all other sorts of stuff.
CM: What is your favorite sport to watch that you didn’t watch before, now that you go to all these events as an AAD?
MH: Probably rowing. Especially with how big our rowing team is compared to other teams, it’s so nice to be able to just watch them out on the water, putting in all those hard hours of training. It’s also just a more detailed and cooler sport than I thought, it’s not just simply rowing your boat up or down stream as fast as possible.
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