Questions 1: What was your greatest moment while competing in high school?
During regionals 2018, I had multiple events at once and was two feet behind first place in the triple jump. I decided to scratch my last two jumps to focus on high jump. Something came over me that made me ask to unscratch my third and final jump of everyone in the entire meet. I was tired but somehow PR'd, rose to first place, and broke the region record with a jump of 38'10".
Question 2: What is your biggest regret (related to T&F in high school) or what would you have done differently and why?
Not trying out my freshman year. I always wonder how everything would've panned out if I had that extra year. I wonder if I would've hit the same highs and the same lows and if they would have been hit at the same points in time.
Question 3: What will you miss the most about HS T&F/XC?
The opportunities to meet people and travel. I have done many other sports in my life but none are as respectful and lesson oriented as track. Even the negatives in track made me a better person and taught me something, and it is a rare attribute of the sport that individually you can grow whilst simultaneously obtaining the ability to majorly contribute to a team.
Question 4: What is some advice from incoming frosh and rising seniors on your high school team that you would like to share with them?
If there's something you feel isn't affectively improving your performance or work ethic, don't be afraid to offer new ideas to coaches for your workouts. A coach knows their athletes best, but unless you're being focused in on, it's hard for them to track individual progress during practice. I PR'd like crazy this season in jumps after asking my coach to give me less sprint oriented workouts and more jumping oriented. He catered the workouts perfectly and just needed that nudge.
Question 5: What was the hardest workout you did your entire high school career? Did you like it or did you dread it?
As I mentioned before, I am a jumper so sprint and endurance workouts killed me more than my teammates (conversely my jump workouts killed any sprinter who tried), so having to do 16 200's in a row was not my forté. However they prepared me for upcoming jump workouts and made me a more well-rounded athlete.
Question 6: How did you make track/XC a very individual sport into more of a team sport?
I tried my best to teach multiple people how to triple jump during a time when we lacked a coach in 2017.
Question 7: Finally, what are your college plans? Will you be competing in college, where? What do you plan on studying? What do you have as career plans?
I will be jumping for the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. I plan to study international relations and spend at least four years as a surface warfare officer.
