MAJOR LIFE CHANGES can be hard on athletic careers, but Josette Andrews has only gotten better in the months since she tied the knot with Olympian Robby Andrews and moved halfway across the country to Colorado to join the On Athletic Club and the coaching of Dathan Ritzenhein.
The wedding took place December 09. “We went on a honeymoon to Costa Rica two days later. Then we moved to Colorado on Christmas Eve, so it was a crazy 3 weeks,” Andrews says with a laugh.
“I think it can be pretty hard to make a transition. Sometimes it clicks right away and sometimes it takes a little bit of time. I think my foundation has been so strong the last few years being a professional with Reebok and coach [Chris] Fox that so far, luckily, I’ve been able to click right in and I’ve adjusted to altitude really well. I had done a couple of camps at altitude before in Flagstaff and had a really good response when I went there for about 5 weeks. But to live full-time at altitude is a big change and my body’s responding really well.
“Me and Alicia [Monson] have been great training partners and so it was really exciting to be able to jump right in and be full on board with Dathan and the OAC and just have things click and see performances that we thought we were capable of doing. And also progressing from where I was back in ’21 and ’22.”
Her ’23 season kicked off with a lone indoor race, a 4:20.88 for 2nd in the Millrose mile. Outdoors she burned a PR 5000 in 14:43.36 at the On Track Fest to become No. 7 all-time among Americans. Then she showed off her speed with a 4:00.77 for 3rd in the 1500 at the LA Grand Prix. A brief European tour saw her run 4:01.39 for 7th in Florence and 4:21.98 for 10th in the Bislett mile. The consistency of the performances speaks well of her base fitness.
“I think it’s just been a progression in consistency,” Andrews says. “I had a great 2021 season at the end of the year and into ‘22’s indoor season. And then, unfortunately, I had a hamstring strain that took a long time to recover from in the spring season. And I think I was forcing things a little bit in the late summer. I didn’t quite see the outdoor season that I was hoping for.”
Her down ’22 campaign had followed a steady progression for Andrews since she graduated from Georgetown as a Big East champion and NCAA 4th-placer in the 5000, with PRs of 4:13.77 and…
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