Sophomore track and field sprinter Mya Joy Lee has run track and field since she was in fourth grade and said always knew she always knew that she wanted to be a college athlete.
“In the world of track and field, the women are phenomenal,” Lee said.
While she has faced some setbacks, including an injury her freshman year, she is grateful to have had the support of her teammates along the way.
“Those are like my sisters, the people I lean on most,” Lee said.
Elon’s award-winning track and field team is made up of 59 female athletes, while the cross country team — that holds two conference titles — has 28 female members.
Cross country runner sophomore Sarah Petitjean has been running since her junior year of highschool. While she once played softball and soccer, when she found her love for cross country, she said she knew it was where she wanted to stay.
“I’m very grateful for the opportunity that I get to be here. I get to run. I have great coaches and great teammates. That community and just being able to participate in the sport are super important to me,” Petitjean said.
According to Elon’s student athlete handbook student athletes are required to complete a minimum of six credit hours a semester and 18 an academic year, as well as maintain their attendance.
“I cannot see myself in college without being an athlete because it's been a part of my life for so long,” Lee said.“It's like I couldn’t just let myself let the dream die, like I was going to do everything I possibly could, and I was blessed enough to be afforded that opportunity, so I'm very grateful for that.”
According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, in 2022 over 522 student athletes competed in NCAA sports across the United States, and 44% of those athletes were female-identifying students. This is a 5% increase in the number of student athletes competing in women's championship sports that year, according to the NCAA. Elon is home to 16 Division I athletic teams, nine of which are female.
Lee and Petitjean said they were proud to be a part of their respective teams. Lee also said she feels it is important to be strong, not only physically, but mentally, as an athlete.
“Every opportunity I get to run is just — I don't take it for granted at all — and the fact that I'm getting stronger … is very empowering to me because I'm admiring my own personal strength as a Black, female athlete,” Lee said. “Sports is literally half mental half physical, and if the mental is not there, the physical just will be out of whack, so I’m growing as a person mentally, and it's strengthening every aspect of me.”
According to the Women’s Sports Foundation, by the age of 14, girls are dropping out of sports at two times the rate of boys due to a lack of access and social stigmas in the world of female sports.
“Being a distance runner has its challenges because looking a specific way is very prevalent in our culture,” Petitjean said.“I think recognizing that and teammates and building each other up, like getting stronger together and overcoming that barrier of like, ‘Oh, I have to look this way to be fast’ is very empowering.”
According to Nielson there has been a 7% increase in global viewership and viewer interest of women's sports games since 2019. This increase is due to more companies investing in game promotion in response to viewer requests.
“You have all this proof right here in front of you of these amazing outstanding individuals who are women in sports and, specifically track and field and cross country, just breaking standards across the board worldwide,” Lee said.