The Collegian

Issue date: 3/27/08 Section: Sports

After my final high school track and field season, the final rankings placed me as the fifth best high school high jumper in the country. I won three individual state titles, set state records, achieved All-American honors and led my team to a state championship trophy. All of these honors, I thought, would allow me to pick up where I left off once I began competing at the collegiate level.

This idea could not have been more wrong.

My first collegiate track season was a struggle. I lost focus, fought through training and failed to achieve a rhythm needed in the high jump. But this season, after three years at Hillsdale, success was finally mine.

Preparation
When we started for our upcoming track season, I kept the memories of high school close to me. Every step ran, every jump exploded, every weight lifted, and every curl around a bar retained greater focus: a trip to Mankato, Minn., for the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Nationals.

The training process for Nationals began over a month ago at the University of Findlay where I cleared 2.09 meters. The jump qualified me for the national meet and earned a fourth place national ranking.

The next four weeks after qualifying, I set up a new, uniformed training schedule.
Mondays focused on plyometric exercises, including high-hurdle hops. The hurdles are set up above the highest peg and frequently placed on platforms giving them a height around five feet. Other exercises included a medicine-ball workout where I tossed a 10-kg ball as high as possible, making sure to use my legs to explode off the ground before throwing it above my head.

Each plyometric exercise was treated as if it was my final jump in competition. Bringing such a mindset to training created a positive mentality for the rest of the week's training, and on competition day.

Mondays' intense workout did not allow for much explosion in my jumps on Tuesdays, the actual jumping day. Thus, I was forced to execute my form to perfection. There are two main types of high jumpers: speed jumpers and power jumpers. Weighing in at 130 pounds, I fall into the first category. Therefore, it is critical to bring enough speed into my approach and wait the right amount of time in the air before I curl over the bar.

Wednesdays provided a day of rest, which included a light jog and stretching routine. After two days of work, the body needs a day to recover and rebuild muscle.

With only one day left in the week before Friday's meet, Thursday's practice included a normal stretching routine and no more than five full jumps over a bar. My body would feel rested and ready to jump, while my mind calmed the jump down in an attempt not waste explosion for the Friday's meet.

Execution
The national meet has an entirely different atmosphere than any other competition. Everyone is of a high-caliber and a similar level. There is no giggling or horseplay before events. Some athletes are so focused that a starter's gun firing right behind them would not cause them to flinch. Being a rookie at the collegiate national level, I tried to bring in a similar focus.

The high jump began with the introduction of the top 11 athletes competing. I waved to the crowd, heart pounding.

Nerves trembled through my small frame, but my coach taught me to turn my nerves into adrenaline. I cleared one out of five or six attempts over a bar during warm-ups - a percentage not helping my nerves.

After a sip of water, a quick prayer and a nod over to my coach, I lined up my approach, gazed at my goal, and began bounding up to the bar. A 60-foot approach only leaves for a few seconds of mental thought:

"Hit that cut in mark. Stay smooth."

"Let's get this first bar."

"Hopefully these spandex don't look too revealing."

All of a sudden, my eyes were staring at the bar, which now, was directly in front of me and my mind told me,

"JUMP!"

My foot planted, muscles compressed, and my body wrapped around the bar that was six inches over my head.

The second bar, two inches higher, resulted in the same. Three competitors exited the competition, resulting in me earning All-American status and placing sixth.

Repetition
While standing on the podium, I looked at my teammates and coaches clapping for me and it sunk in: I am an All-American, the sixth best high jumper in the entire country for NCAA Division II athletes. It was a mark that reminded me of my high school days, where I was successful all the time it seemed.

The outdoor track and field season will start soon, and I remember what my high school coach told our team going into our final season as seniors.

"It is important not to look in the rear view mirror too much. Ever so often it's ok to check for safety, but if you stare at it for a long period of time, you're bound to crash."

It is time to remain humble and bounce back to work.

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