Sacramento State’s Renisha Robinson was a two-time All-American, a four-time NCAA Championship qualifier.
Her prowess on the track earned her the distinction of being selected No. 16 on the list of the Big Sky Conference’s “25 Greatest Female Athletes.’’
“That is an honor,” said Robinson. “I am very humbled with that honor because there are so many great athletes in the Big Sky. I do appreciate that because I know I have worked so hard.”
Robinson from San Jose, Calif., won her first 800 meter Big Sky Indoor Championship as freshman year in 2008. She went on to win the 800 again as a sophomore, and won the indoor and outdoor 800 championships as a junior. During her entire indoor career and through her first three seasons outdoors, Robinson was never beat by another Big Sky athlete in the 800 – trailing only All-American teammate Lea Wallace.
Robinson competed in her first NCAA Championship during the outdoor season in 2009. She ended up finishing 26th with a time of 2 minutes, 12.34 seconds
“My first time at the NCAA I was kind of hesitant because I was hurt and everything,” said Robinson. “But it was overall a great experience. And I just loved being in the championship environment because you realize that I have worked so hard that I am finally here with the best of the best and I just have to come out here and do what I have to do. And it is also a humbling experience because you have learned that not everyone gets to go.”
Robinson went to one indoor NCAA Championship and that was in 2011 where she finished 16th with a time of 2:11.62. Her last NCAA experience came her senior season in 2012 outdoors where she was 16th with a time of 2:05.15. That time ranks second all-time in the Big Sky record book behind the time of 2:03.07 set in 2011 by her teammate Lea Wallace.
“With that experience in my heart I felt that within that race there was a lot of technical logistics that kind of didn’t go my way,” said Robinson at the NCAA. “So I look back at that all the time wishing I would have done things a little differently. But at the end of the day that is all I gave. I left everything out there but if I did little things a little differently my senior year would have played out differently for me.
Not only was Robinson an All-American in the 800 meters, she also helped her team to seven Big Sky Conference team titles during her career.
Robinson recently moved to Florida where she is training with Johnny Gray, who is a four-time Olympian. In 1985, he set the US record of 1:42.60 at a meet in Koblenz, Germany.
“So that is where I am in my life and just continuing running at that elite level and pushing myself to get my times lower and get a contract,” said Robinson.