BYU Sports Player Highlight: Erica Birk-Jarvis
By Adam Gibby
If you break one record you are considered really special. If you have a kid and then break four records there isn’t a word for that.
15 months ago, Erica Birk-Jarvis gave birth to her son Jack and this last week she broke her fifth BYU record in the 5K run.
Birk-Jarvis has been on and off the BYU Cross Country and Track teams since 2013 when she arrived from North Summit High School from the small town of Hoytsville, Utah where to this day she holds the cross country 2A State record in cross country and the 800m, 1600m, 3200m and distance medley records in track and field.
After the 2013 track season where she got some first team runs in the mile and even ran in the DMR that placed fifth nationally in the MPSF Championships she served a mission in Cleveland, Ohio.
After coming home, Birk Jarvis finished 34th in the 2016 Cross Country Championships giving her the first of many All-American finishes that she would collect over her running career. After a good indoor and outdoor track season, including another All-American finish taking 4th in the DMR in the NCAA Indoor Track Championships. During the outdoor season 2017 season, she also broke the BYU record on the 3000 meter steeplechase. Later in the season however she found out she was pregnant and had to sit out the 2017 Cross Country season.
After taking off the summer and the Cross Country season of 2017, she had her son Jack in December and began to train again to be ready for the 2018 Cross Country season. After a slow start, Birk-Jarvis found herself back with the team and by the end of the season she won the West Coast Conference Individual Championship running a 19:45 6K time. At the NCAA Championships Birk-Jarvis took seventh overall grabbing her third All-American honor.
So far this year in indoor and outdoor track Birk-Jarvis has continued to impress and pick up awards. In the indoor season, she took 5th place in the 3000m and 2nd in the DMR, again picking up two All-American awards. She also broke the BYU record in the mile, 3000m and the DMR.
As the outdoor season begins, Birk Jarvis continues to impress as this past weekend she broke the 5000m record at the Stanford Invitational running a 15:38, breaking the old record by six seconds, an eternity in running.
To recap:
- Ran Outdoor Track 2013
- Served Mission in Cleveland, Ohio 2014-2015
- Ran Cross Country/Track 2016-2017 (All American 2016 Cross Country, DMR Indoor Track)
- Gave birth to son Jack in December, 2017
- All-American in Cross Country (2018), Indoor Track (DMR 2019, 3000m 2019)
- BYU record in the DMR, 5000m, 3000m Steeplechase, 1600m
- Individual Champion in WCC XC Championships, MPSF Championships mile, MPSF Championships 3000m, BYU Autumn Classic (all in 2018-2019 year)
Despite being part of the team since 2013, going on a mission, and giving birth to a child, Erica Birk-Jarvis is listed as a Junior meaning that her list of records may not be anywhere near to done.
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