Nothing motivates senior Malia Heien like a challenge, something she proves in the science lab and as a record-setting, 800-meter runner for the Lewis & Clark track team.
If there is anything at which Heien doesn’t excel, Assistant Professor of Chemistry Jean-Philippe “JP” Gourdine hasn’t yet discovered it.
Gourdine first knew Heien as an A student pursuing a demanding interdisciplinary biochemistry and molecular biology major.
When Gourdine, who studies the urinary biome, and Heien sat down to explore her future as a scientist, he had no idea about her athletic accomplishments. It wasn’t until Heien mentioned that she had some scheduling conflicts with track meets that Gourdine investigated.
“I checked on her and what she had been doing,” Gourdine says. “I was seeing how many competitions she had won. I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ She is so humble. She could have bragged.”
There is plenty to brag about. Heien has twice broken L&C’s record in the women’s 800 meters, is third on L&C’s all-time list in the 1,500, and owns a leg of the school-record 4x400 relay. She could again lower her 800 record of 2 minutes, 11.17 seconds before her college career concludes, assuming she pushes through nagging Achilles tendon and plantar fascia problems.
Chris Reed, head men’s and women’s cross country and track and field coach, wouldn’t bet against her.
“Beyond her physical talent, her mental toughness is at a really high level,” Reed says. “She is an extremely competitive person. She is one of those people who refuse to lose. That is so valuable in any race, but especially the 800 with how difficult that race is.”
Her mental focus comes into play while Heien pursues excellence both in a time-intensive degree field and intercollegiate athletics. So do her organizational skills and time management.
“If I get a homework assignment, I try to start it two or three days before it is due in case it starts to take longer,” Heien says. “I really try not to think about school during practice. I try to make sure I don’t have any assignments to do.
“If we’re going on a travel trip, I try to do the homework that will be due up to two days after we’re back.
When the gun goes off to start a race, Heien says, “I want to be present in the moment.”
The opportunity L&C provides for her to pursue both athletics and academics is one reason Heien decided to leave her home in Denver and continue her education on Palatine Hill.
She had other options but fell in love with L&C’s small class sizes and, after a recruiting trip to Portland, the beauty of the campus. It didn’t hurt that the trails in pristine Tryon Creek State Park are just a short jog away, and a good place for training runs.
“It’s been a great fit.” Heien says. “I was looking for a school where the academics would focus on me, where the professors would be able to see if I was struggling with a class and where I would have lots of opportunities to talk to them.”
In the process, she has pursued scientific research opportunities that sometimes aren’t available in smaller schools.
Gourdine, who supervised Heien last summer in L&C’s experiential John S. Rogers Science Program, raves about the quality of her research and scholarship. And all of this while she continued to train.
Unlike most other sports, track and field athletes often don’t have an offseason during the school year. Heien competes in cross country in the fall, indoor track in the winter, and outdoor track in the spring. She is a three-time national qualifier in cross country, which ties an L&C record.
While working long hours in the Rogers Program last summer, she was up early to work out and maintain her fitness before reporting to the lab. There have been other times during the academic year when she trained on her own because of class conflicts.
Heien, who excelled in several sports at Denver’s Northfield High School, actually was recruited to L&C for basketball. She decided to pursue track and cross country instead. She initially dabbled in the heptathlon, a seven-event competition that includes disciplines as disparate as throwing the javelin and high jumping.
Reed, the track coach, saw more upside in the mid-distances. Narrowing her focus paid off on the track. She blossomed academically, too. Heien has been nominated for the Rena J. Ratte Memorial Award, L&C’s highest academic award.
“I’m not her only fan,” Gourdine says. “She was nominated by many professors.”
Heien will continue next year as a graduate student at the University of Colorado’s school of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. L&C provided the foundation. She took it from there.
Gourdine says she will leave a legacy as the rare student who shattered records on the track while excelling in academics, scientific process, and research.
As he puts it, “We’re going to miss her.”
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Track and Field
