Some stories start with a single lightning bolt moment. Krystie Solomon-Jensen’s started earlier than she can even remember, on a track with her parents watching on, a little girl with too much energy and a family that knew exactly what to do with it.
"I was thrown into athletics at about four or five,” Krystie laughs, looking back on where it all began. “It was something my parents put me onto. I had a lot of energy, and they’d done track themselves."
What started as an outlet eventually became a calling. And at Sacred Heart, that competitive spark found a home. Krystie remembers the school’s athletics day as a formative stage, one where she discovered she could hold her own in events she’d never tried before.
"Everyone was so impressed I could do everything and get points for our house. I remember feeling a lot of support from the teachers and Miss Gunn."
It was also at Sacred Heart that Krystie met the person who first showed her that a scholarship in the United States wasn’t just a dream but a real pathway. Kayla Goodwin, a talented high jumper a couple of years ahead of her, had gone on to compete in the US, as had her brother.
"She made it known to me that going to uni and running for the uni was a possibility,” Krystie says. “That’s how the US does it. They look out for people running fast times."
Which is how Krystie wound up in the US.
A coach got hold of Krystie’s number and gave her a call. A scholarship offer followed, then several more from schools across the United States. Among them was Brigham Young University, whose values mirrored her own.
"I remember being really excited,” she says. “My coach is famous in the running world, so I felt really flattered."
Leaving Hamilton at 18 for Provo, Utah, was a leap, but one Krystie was ready to take.
The adjustment brought its challenges, leaving family behind chief among them, but also extraordinary new resources: a dedicated coach, elite training facilities, physios, athletic trainers, ice baths and recovery care – an experience she describes as living like a professional.
Those early years at BYU came with their own lessons.
"I remember my freshman year – I was so excited to run, but blinded by everything that was new,” Krystie admits.
"I wasn’t as ‘locked in’ as I could have been.” It took time, and maturity, to understand what elite sport actually demands: sleep, nutrition, sacrifice, and a mindset built on gratitude and focus rather than distraction. That shift in discipline shows up plainly in the numbers.
Krystie has taken her 800m personal best from 2:04 down to a stunning 2:01.40 at this year’s NCAA Outdoor Championships, earning Second Team All-American honours and helping BYU’s distance medley relay squad to a Big 12 indoor title.
Somewhere in the middle of all that hard work, life kept moving too. Krystie is now married to fellow BYU athlete Jace Jensen, and the couple welcomed their daughter, Darcy, along the way. It would have been easy to imagine that motherhood and marriage might slow an athlete down. For Krystie, it has done the opposite.
"Thinking back, I would never have imagined where my life was taking me. Everything has happened relatively seamlessly. It was meant to be this way. I have learned to balance a few things, prioritising everything I am doing, and I am loving it. I believe you can do anything with the time you have if you love what you do."
With a psychology degree complete and eligibility still on the table, Krystie is weighing what comes next – whether that’s another season chasing a sub-two-minute 800m and a professional contract, or a future built around sports psychology and life coaching.
It is a path close to her heart. “I feel like a lot of female athletes aren’t aware of how the mind works. We are fed so much rubbish online.” It is a cause she feels connected to in a very personal way, wanting other young women to have the same self-belief she was given.
And when she looks for the source of that self-belief, Krystie doesn’t have to look far. “I think a lot about my time at Sacred Heart and how it led me to America. Everything I was taught at an all-girls school is about empowering women, and I learned so much from the teachers and support staff there."
From a Hamilton athletics track to the biggest stages in American collegiate sport, Krystie Solomon-Jensen carries Sacred Heart with her every step of the way. And she’s only just getting started.