Gerraughty won the shot put at the NCAA indoor championships (Erik Palmer/Trackwire) |
1. With your winning performance of 59-3 in the shot put at the NCAA Indoor Championships, how did you feel and prepare heading into the meet?
The main focus of my training going into the meet, and of the season in general, was to just feel good, both physically and mentally. I had done all of the work I needed to do over the course of the fall and the winter season, so I was in shape to compete and had enough repetitions under my belt to perform well. The next step was to prepare myself to use all that training. I used each meet of my indoor season as a chance to practice competing - how to use meet adrenaline to complement and fuel my technique, not dismantle it.
If my difficulties last spring at nationals taught me anything, it was that competing is definitely a learned skill and that you need to practice and prepare for it just like any other technical element. In the two weeks leading up to nationals, I let up on my weightlifting and changed the focus of my lifting to speed. I also took fewer reps of throws and concentrated more on the quality of each. This helped me to feel fully rested and recovered.
2. You also threw 192-8 in hammer and 57-5.75 in shot put to win both events at the USA Jr. Nationals last year. As one of the most talented and accomplished throwers out of high school as well, what has been some of the more technical aspects of your training over the past year?
I had so much to learn in all of my events my first year here that I spent my freshman year focusing mainly on technique. Any marks that I got were purely from going through the motions correctly, and I was very inconsistent because I was still learning. This year, I'm focusing on applying power and speed to it. Now I can actually use all of that lifting and other conditioning that I've done.
3. As part of the NCAA Division I U.S. Coach's Association All-Academic Team, how do you balance out academics and athletics, especially when you start to travel every weekend during the competition seasons?
This has to be the most difficult part about college athletics. The best way I've found to handle this is to keep in touch with my professors throughout the semester and keep a regular schedule while I'm home. This includes making sure I go to as many classes as possible, as well as scheduling in a certain time every day to sit and study. I try to build a block or two into my schedule, either in between classes or before practice (so I'm not tired), where I can go to the library and work.
4. Hailing from the state of New Hampshire where you hold multiple state records, what made you decide to enroll at North Carolina?
What initially attracted me to North Carolina was its reputation both as a top-tier academic institution and as a strong force athletically. I didn't know much about the history of the track program specifically coming in (I didn't even know Marion Jones ran here until after I started school), but I knew Coach Blutreich's reputation and accomplishments. We talked on my visit, and I really liked the plans that he had for my training. The stuff he said made immediate sense, and I was excited to come and train with him. As for the school itself, it wasn't that I was amazed or awed so much as that it felt comfortable and familiar. They had great facilities and a beautiful campus, and I really hit it off with the team. I felt like I belonged here.
5. The North Carolina women's track and field team earned a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, the best finish in the history of the program. As a major part of the team scoring, what is the team atmosphere like as a Tar Heel?
Our team is really coming along, both in respect to outstanding individual performances and as a group. The fact that we won the ACC Conference Championships in addition to finishing so high nationally speaks to our depth. It only takes a handful of talented athletes to walk away with a national title, but for us, that national success is indicative of a strong team at all levels and great group dynamic. We all get along very well and we push each other. One person's success fuels the next person's desire to do well, whether personally, at the conference level, or at NCAA's.
6. Looking ahead to the long outdoor season which includes the NCAA, USA and World Outdoor Championships, what are some of your goals and what would you like to accomplish?
My goals for the outdoor season are much the same as they were indoors. I feel like I still have a lot to learn about competing, so I'm going to continue working on that. As far as my technique goes, I'm excited because I'm just now putting some stuff together, both in the shot and in the hammer. The goal in the hammer is to make nationals with the new Regional system, and the plan is to continue to plug away at the technique and keep figuring stuff out to get there. My goal is the World A standard (18.55 m) in the shot ultimately, but my focus will be to continue working on the technical aspects that I've been working on all year.
Gerraughty hopes for even more success outdoors this season (TarHeelBlue.com) |
7. As stated previously, it will be an even longer outdoor season this year. How will you prepare yourself to make sure that you will peak at the right time after such a long collegiate season?
Coach Blutreich and I have already discussed which meets I'm going to try to peak for and which I will train through and have planned out a training cycle accordingly. Since the season is so long, we have the time to go back to more general strength and conditioning to rebuild a training base. This is an excellent chance to get stronger and get some more throws repetitions in to reinforce technique and try to figure out some more stuff before I have to be ready to crank again. It's like doing another abbreviated off-season, almost.
8. What are some of the most important Olympic type lifts that you do to help you perform at your best?
The Olympic lifts I do include clean, jerk, and snatch. Most of these are done traditionally, i.e. from the floor for cleans and snatches, although sometimes we'll change things up by doing hang snatch or hang clean for speed and rhythm (excellent for hammer training) or as part of a circuit in the early season. To warm up for Olympic lifts, we do pulls from the floor or dead lifts with medium weight. If we are doing cleans that day, then we do a snatch-grip pull, and vice-versa.
9. When you enter the ring, what do you try to focus on the most to try and block out any kind of outside pressure?
This is going to sound a bit clich