Running into fifth-year Ashley Windsor on campus, you might get the feeling that you’ve seen her before. At 5’3” she certainly isn’t a girl who rises above a crowd of people, but walking by the Mott Athletic Center you might have noticed her as she towers above the entrance to the gym with what can only be described as a “come-at-me” look in her eyes. The face of the Cal Poly cross-country and track teams, she has done what most athletes only dream of accomplishing- she has become All-American. Ironic, considering the fact that she’s actually Canadian.
After coming off of an unprecedented high school cross country season in Canada, finishing first in cross country that season, her high school coach handed her a list of 50 NCAA D1 schools in the United States to consider attending, and running for, once graduating. She laughs as she talks about the reason she first considered coming to Cal Poly. “There were so many schools on that list… originally I kept Cal Poly on the list because I liked mustangs,” she said. However, after attending a recruit trip to the school, it became clear that it was the school she would attend, and not just because of the mascot. Windsor signed to Cal Poly and committed to run as a Mustang. Unfortunately, like many new college athletes find, the transition wouldn’t prove to be easy.
Injury sidetracked her freshman cross country season, a consequence of trying to do too much, too soon. Her high school training had consisted of workouts, some in the form of running-based games such as Frisbee, and her weekly mileage had never exceeded 20 miles. Coming to practice for the first time, she felt “way out of [her] league,” as she watched in awe as many of her teammates went on 10-mile runs, many hitting 60 to 70 miles for the week. However, the games she played in high school had given her something other than mileage: they had taught her the desire to compete and to win.
Rather than becoming discouraged, she increased her mileage, trying to work just as hard as her teammates. Unfortunately, the transition occurred too quickly, resulting in injury and leading her to red-shirt the first season of her collegiate career. Her track season also proved to be disappointing as she barely managed to hit the marks that she had set in high school. However, looking back at her freshman year now, it is clear that hindsight is 20-20 for Windsor.
“It was a learning curve,” she said. “There are times when you stumble as you’re trying to figure things out but the more you learn, the faster you pick yourself back up and the less you start to fall.”
This was something that she proved to be true her cross-country season of the following year. Her training began to show results and she qualified to be part of the travel squad that year, one that would reign as champions at the Big West Conference Championships. She would also bring home one of the most prestigious awards given out that year – Big West Freshman of the Year. During her track season, she ran the team’s fastest 800 time of 2:09.08 with a great finish at conference that simultaneously punched her ticket to Regionals by the skin of her teeth. She finished 32 overall in the 800 at Regionals, a race Windsor views as a learning experience.
“In college sports especially, you have to go one time, do it, and then go back again and do it right,” she said.
Little did she know that the next time she was there, she would be punching her ticket to the NCAA D1 Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
When asked about what race really stood out to her during her All-American season, she smiles fondly as she recalls her 4:20 race on 4/20. Windsor had just shifted her focus from the 800 meters, to the 1500 meters, a race just short of a mile. She claims that originally she wasn’t happy to run the longer race, but the coaches saw something in her that she didn’t see in herself. They were so confident in her abilities that they registered her for a race that was faster than she had already run. The gamble paid off as she ran 4:20, a time equivalent to a 4:38 mile, and a four second personal record. She finished second, only edged out by a professional runner.
“[The coaches] knew I was capable of running that time before I knew I was capable of running that time,” she grins.
It’s a race that she’s so proud of, that she still wears the hat she won to practice. For her, it marks the turning point of the season, a confidence booster, and something that had her eyeing the possibility of qualifying for the NCAA Championships that year. But first, she would have to get past the Regional meet.Her second year at Regionals, she was prepared for the energy and intensity that had been new to her the previous year. Toeing the line of the preliminary race, she was thrown off for a moment as the starter began the race more suddenly than expected, but quickly settled into a focused mental state and cruised to a spot in the finals. The finals were where the real test would be, if she ran a good race, she would qualify for Nationals. If she ran a bad race, it would mark the end of her season.
“It was a make or break moment,” Windsor states. One of the other women on the team at the time, a high jumper had just qualified for Nationals. That thought gave Windsor the push that she needed. “She could not leave without me, I needed to be on that plane… It was like a mystical break that showed me if she [could] go for real, I [could] go for real and I would die before I let that plane leave without me.”
The regional finals race is a blur for Windsor. The only memory that prevails is the spike of adrenaline at the sound of the bell being rung as she entered the last lap of her race. Legs numb, lungs burning, she knew it was a battle of the wills, and she was not going to give up. The last 100 meters she overtook two women from Oregon, finishing with a time of 4:15.9, and taking third overall. She had qualified for the NCAA D1 Track and Field Championships.
Windsor has tears in her eyes as she recounts the moments following her race. “The first thing I did was I got my applesauce and the second thing I did was call my dad and I told him to get ready to fly to Oregon and see me go to Nationals after dropping 30 seconds off my personal best (4:42 to 4:15.9) [from the beginning of the year]. Everything was just brighter and prettier after that. That was such a highlight, even more than nationals.”
Following her trip to nationals, she placed 16 overall in the 1500 meter with a time of 4:16.01, cementing her status as second Team All-American.
Talking to her teammates today, it is clear that Windsor’s successful journey is not something that she talks about unless asked – such is the mark of a humble, mature,and an incredibly inspiring athlete. Her teammates speak about her calm intensity and the way her attitude gives them motivation.
“When I was a freshman, I was struggling with the workouts and every day that I was out there on the side, after being pulled out, Ashley would sit by me and encourage me. Because I knew that she was in the same position her freshman year, it gave me the drive and motivation to work harder,” said her sophomore teammate Michaela Barros.
Windsor’s journey is far from over. Sidelined with injury her last track season, she begins this one shaking off the last bits of pain that are reminiscent from cross country. With hundreds of hours of swimming and biking under her belt, she’s ready to put on her running shoes again. And you can bet that as she toes the line for the first time this season, that we’ll be cheering for her the moment that starting gun goes off.
Wishing you the best this season,
Your fellow Mustangs