On those days when the weather outside of Slippery Rock High School was not fit for man or hurdler, Abbey Basta practiced her form in the school's hallways.

It was by no means an ideal place to work on her hurdling skills. But it was better than nothing.

As it turns out, those sessions sprinting and hurdling past lockers and classrooms was a perfect venue.

Basta, now a freshman at Westminster College, set a Titans' indoor track record in the 55-meter hurdles recently, posting a time of 9.23 seconds in the first indoor meet of her life.

Outside of the SlipperyRock hallways, that is.

"I had no idea what to expect," said Basta, who certainly enjoyed success on the outdoor track in the hurdles at SlipperyRock, placing eighth at the PIAA Track and Field Championships in the 100-meter hurdles as a junior. "The only indoor track I knew was the one at (Slippery Rock University)."

But Basta never ran in a meet there.

When she and her Westminster teammates went to Marietta College for the First Glimpse Invitational in December, she was surprised by what she saw, yet was oddly at ease.

Thank the cozy SlipperyRock corridors for that.

"Whenever it was too cold outside, I practiced inside the school," Basta said. "So I actually felt really comfortable. It was less intimidating than outside."

Basta was the lone first-place finisher for Westminster at the meet.

She had no idea she had broken a record until long after the meet was over.

"We were sitting at Wendy's after the meet when I found out," Basta said. "It was nice."

Saturday at Kent State University, Basta broke Westminster's 60-meter hurdle indoor record by running the event in 9.92 seconds.

Basta had no doubt she wanted to continue running the hurdle events in college after a senior season atSlipperyRock spent overcoming one injury after another.

She sprained her ankle badly at the end of basketball season last year and never fully recovered throughout the track season.

Basta also battle hamstring and quad injuries.

Still, she advanced to the state meet, but did not place.

That adversity only made her more determined.

"I felt it was necessary for me to keep running because in high school I never felt like I reached my potential," Basta said. "I wanted to see what I could do in college if I stayed healthy."

And that college turned out to be Westminster, not because it was a women's track and field power, but because it wasn't.

Westminster has only had a program since 2002 and has had very little success.

"When I talked to coach (Don) Augustine, he told me the program used to be kind of a joke," Basta said. "But he was trying to take it to the next level. I really respected him for that."

Basta wanted to be a part of the program's growth. She is just one of a major influx of young talent into the program.

Basta saw that Augustine meant business from the very beginning.

"Coach gave us workouts and I was like, 'Holy cow! I've never done anything like this,'" Basta said.

The workout required a lot of sprinting drills and weight lifting.

"I've never lifted weights in my life," Basta said. "I'm always looking for improvement. I'm never quite happy with myself."

That's why Basta is throwing herself into the sport.

She is still intrigued by just how good she can be.

"I don't think I could have just stopped doing track," Basta said. "I would have never known how good I could be. I would have always wondered what I could have done. That's somethingI don't think I would have liked too much."