Scenes from the 2012 SoCon Outdoor Track & Field Championships held in Cullowhee, N.C. Photos courtesy of Mark Haskett.
2011-12 (Freshman): Indoor- Versatile athlete who picked up five top 10 finishes, competing in the 55mH, 60mH, 400m, high jump, long jump and the shot put ... Placed sixth in the SoCon Championship in the long jump ... Earned a fourth place finish in the pentathlon with 3328 points.
Outdoor- Notched three top three finishes, including two wins ... First career victory came in the 400mH at home in the Catamount Classic. Ran a 1:02.92 ... Second win came in the Mountains vs. Beaches Meet, also in the 400mH (1:02.65) ... Placed third in the SoCon Championships with a personal-best time of 1:02.10 ... Also placed 10th in the long jump with another personal best jump of 5.28m ... Birek competed in the 100mH, 400mH, long jump and javelin.
High School: Competed for Ann Graham at Wakefield High School ... Wakefield won the outdoor NCHSAA 4A State Track Championships her junior and senior seasons. Also won the indoor state championship her senior year ... As a junior, placed third in outdoor state championship in the 300mH, while placing seventh nationally in the pentathlon at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships ... Her senior year, Birek finished fourth in the 300mH (43.9) at the outdoor state championships ... National Championship winner with her track club, Wakefield Track Club ... A three-time Coach's Award recipient, Birek was named team's Rookie of the Year as a freshman ... Named MVP Female Athlete as a senior ... Wakefield ... Two-time captain of the Wakefield JV Volleyball team where she also won the Coach's award.
Personal: Recreational Therapy major with hopes of working with adolescents and adult females struggling with eating disorders ... Daughter of Paul Birek and Barbara Nesbitt-Birek ... Has three siblings, Devon Birek-Collins (26), Stefan Birek (24) and Jonathan Birek (16) ... Mother ran track for Penn State while her father was a dancer for the Duquesne University Tamburitzans ... Sister, Devon, was a gymanst for Ithaca College ... Also enjoys playing various musical instruments - including the violin and guitar ... Sings, writes music and participates with her church's worship team.
