Sadie McMullen used her last year of NCAA eligibility to get her master's degree in biomechanics and compete for Wyoming one more time.
However, her last track and field season was cut short when she qualified to represent the United States in the World Cup Bobsled circuit.
Jack O'Neil: What gave you the idea to try out for the bobsled team? It seems a lot different from track and field.
Sadie McMullen: It was not on my radar whatsoever until about the end of July. My coach, Quincy Howe, reached out to me. He received an email from the director of performance for Team USA Bobsled, and they were reaching out to different schools, trying to see if there were any athletes who would be interested in trying out for the bobsled team. Coach Howe was like, “I think you would be really good at this. You should give it a shot.”
JO: When you got that email from USA Bobsled, what made you think of Sadie?
Quincy Howe: Her skill level. Just phenotypically, she had the height and the size and the ability that I know they look for in pushers.
Coach Quincy Howe has been the jumps coach for the University of Wyoming track and field team for the last 20 years. He recruited McMullen to come to the UW as a long jumper and short sprinter. He said her ability fit being a brakeman for bobsled perfectly.
QH: Speed is a huge component in that realm, but also the ability to move heavy things. And she has that in spades.
McMullen went to the tryouts in Salt Lake City and Lake Placid, N.Y. She soon found out that she had made the World Cup team. UW strength performance coach, Josh Little, wasn't surprised.
Josh Little: We knew it was only a matter of time before she got that call from the coaches to say, “Hey, we want you”. So of course, it was very emotional for us because we were able to be excited for her and be happy for her.
Coach Howe had a similar reaction.
QH: She is well suited for this. However, I did not expect it to happen this quickly, but I was not surprised at all.
JO: What can you say about Sadie's weight room performance?
JL: Sadie is a unicorn. She is fast, she's explosive, she's strong. She's putting up numbers on her Olympic lifts. She's putting up numbers on her squat and her bench, her vertical, her long jump, her flying ten, all of these things are just through the roof.
Athletic talent is important, but McMullen admits that learning a new sport this late in her career is no easy task.
SM: It's been a lot. I was definitely drinking from the fire hose for a month while I was out there. There's so much that goes into it, like the ability to push. Track has really translated really well to pushing the bobsled. So, they really look at the power aspect of the athlete and the ability to transfer power at a very specific acceleration angle, which is something that I've developed over my ten years of training for track.
Pushing is super important in bobsledding, considering that running on the ice is the first part of the race.
SM: On the women's side, you have a two-person bobsled, so you have a pilot and you have a brakeman. The pilot is the person in the front, and they steer the bobsled down the track, it's quite difficult to be a pilot. I am considered to be a brakeman. So my job is to push the sled as hard and as fast as possible in those first 45 to 50 meters, and then jump in and hold on and pray.
Coach Howe has no worries about McMullen’s ability as a bobsledder.
QH: With as novice as she is and as good as she has shown just in the last two and a half months, I really believe the sky's the limit. The Winter Olympics is right around the corner and I believe that she has what it takes to make that team.
JO: What has life been like since you've qualified? Are you walking with a little bit more pep in your step?
SM: It's been really exciting. It's been kind of surreal. Being a professional athlete is something I've dreamed about for a long time, but it is a different sled than I thought I would be in.
McMullen will travel to Europe to compete in the World Cup Series. Her first race will be in Winterberg, Germany on Dec. 30. Then she will travel to four more races in Europe before finishing her season at the World Championships in Lake Placid.
All races will be streamed on the International Bobsled Federation's YouTube channel. You can find more updates about McMullen on her Instagram as she travels and competes for the next three months.
