Hello everybody, my name is Logan Stanley and I am the new State Editor for MileSplit Arizona.
My history with the sport of running stretches back to my days in middle school when my two closest friends at the time suggested I join the track and field team. Considering I was struggling mightily in baseball, I figured a switch would be a positive experience. Not knowing what to compete in, I blindly signed up for the 1600m and 800m - one thing I did know was that I was not a sprinter. I truly was not invested in the sport when I first started out, but as soon as the starting gun went off, a switch flipped instantly inside of me - I wanted to win that race. I won that race and the 800m as well, and an obsession was born. Since that moment, now 14 years ago, I have passionately followed the sport of track and field and cross country.
I ended up making the roster at Eastern Washington University after running at Santa Rosa Junior College (I was just named to the school's all-decade team for cross country!) following my time at Rancho Cotate High School in Northern California, but I soon realized that running was never going to pay the bills for me. I was simply not fast enough. But you know what possibly could? Journalism. So in the fall of 2016, I made the switch to being a full-time journalist after splitting time between running and reporting. I worked my way up from staff writer to copy editor to eventually being the managing editor of the university's newspaper.
Upon graduating, I served a six-month reporting internship with The Olympian and The News Tribune in western Washington where I covered local news and prep sports. After my internship, I returned home to the Bay Area to establish a freelance reporting career in January 2019. My first ever assignment was with MileSplit USA; I ended up being part of the team that provided coverage at the 2019 Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Oregon. I also began to write for the California website, covering meets throughout Northern California as a correspondent.
This past summer I made the decision to move to Arizona to pursue my master's degree. In the fall of 2022, I will be attending the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University where I will be receiving my M.A. in sports journalism.
I will be at a handful of meets this spring and the upcoming fall, so please stop by and say hello! I am eager to embed myself in the Arizona running community. I cannot wait to get started and help cover this great sport in the state of Arizona. If you have any questions or comments, you can always email me at: lstanleyscribe@gmail.com
Thank you for your time,
Logan Stanley