Western track star pushing toward Olympic dream after personal loss

As a 400-meter runner, racing one lap around the track, Western Washington University’s Bec Bennett knows something about full circles.

After qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics that were postponed due to COVID, the trauma from a personal tragedy — the death of her best friend in June 2020 — eventually led Bennett to give up her Olympic berth and abandon the sport and the life she knew in Australia to backpack the world. 

Now, competing for Western for her second year, Bennett has rediscovered her love for running. She recently earned first-team All-America honors with an eighth-place finish in the 400-meter race at the indoor NCAA Division II championships in mid-March. She is helping to rewrite the school’s record books in the 400-meter and 4X400-meter relays.