What a ride it has been for senior Lauren Gale over her decorated career at Colorado State University. From conference champion to Olympian to history-maker, it seems there aren’t many milestones Gale hasn’t reached. 

After first-place finishes in the 200-meter and 400-meter dashes in the 2022 Mountain West Indoor Track & Field Championships and becoming the first Ram to compete in the NCAA DI Indoor Track & Field Championships 400-meter final, Gale pivoted quickly to prepare for another weekend of championships.

Less than a week after her eighth-place 400-meter finish at the NCAA championships, Gale traveled to Belgrade, Serbia, to compete in the 18th World Athletics Indoor Championships for Team Canada in the women’s 4×400-meter relay. 

There, she was the leadoff runner for her relay team, which did not place well overall. However, Gale and her team were able to set a new Canadian national record in the event. Despite the history she had just been part of making, Gale thought they could have run faster.

“It was exciting,” Gale told CTV 11. “We had a little mess up in the handoff, so I think we could have run a little bit of a quicker time, but … you never think that you’re going to get a national record, so it was awesome.”

Gale’s reaction to running the fastest women’s 4×400-meter relay in Canadian history is a tribute to the kind of athlete she is. Always looking for ways to improve has been integral to her success over the course of her running career. 

The long list of Gale’s accolades almost seems inhuman, making her a woman of legendary status at CSU, and she still has an outdoor season to go. Some of the highlights on her list of accomplishments are as follows:

• Three Canadian indoor records (200-meter dash, 400-meter dash, 4×400-meter relay)
• Six CSU all-time records (outdoor 4×100-meter relay, indoor and outdoor 4×400-meter relay, indoor and outdoor 400-meter dash and indoor 200-meter dash)
• 2021 Olympian (alternate for Team Canada’s 4×400-meter relay team)
• Five-time Mountain West Conference champion in the 400-meter dash (only CSU athlete ever to do so)
• 2022 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association First Team All-American

As she finishes up her career at CSU, she hopes to leave behind a legacy “on the track, … hoping to keep (her) name on the record boards for a little bit longer.” She also hopes to leave a legacy of happiness and positivity surrounding the team.

“I think just overall, just daily interactions with people, I hope to leave smiles on people’s faces … I think that’s what I would like to leave behind, is knowing that I made my teammates happy and coaches happy,” Gale said.

Reach Braidon Nourse at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @BraidonNourse.