Q: What is your background with track and field and what made you decide to participate in indoor?

A: “I’ve been running track and field since seventh grade and was mainly doing it to stay in shape for soccer. However, I quickly fell in love with the sport. Indoor is a great season to prepare for outdoor, get great conditioning and work on technical aspects of the race.”

Q: What does typical training look like for your event(s)?

A: “Being a hurdler, I typically run with the sprints all week and designate one day to hurdle technique. For indoor specifically, we do a lot of longer, faster pace workouts to gain conditioning and control lactic acid.”

Q: How do you prepare for meets mentally and/or physically?

A: “For meets, I start mentally preparing the night before. Going over every aspect of my race in my head and clearing my head from any second guessing. I eat a good dinner and make sure to drink a lot of water the day before. On meet day, I put my headphones on and focus on warming up and feeling the best I can before my race.”

Q: What is your most memorable moment in your indoor track career so far? 

A: “My most memorable indoor track and field memory was when our 4×2 relay sophomore year qualified for States. That same meet, our bus broke down and Coach Adams had to change the tire.”

Q: Do you have any pre-competition rituals or routines that help you get into the right mindset?

A: “I typically just throw my headphones on and I always listen to the same song right before I take them off.”

Q: Do you find that being a student-athlete has taught you valuable life skills?

A: “I believe being a student athlete taught me time management skills, how to find a balance and gave me something to be very appreciative for.”

Q: Are there any athletes or individuals who inspire you in your indoor track journey?

A: “I look up to Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, an Olympic hurdler who shares her experiences with the sport and her connection to God.”

Q: Are there specific competitions or goals you are aiming for in the future?

A: “My goals for outdoor track are to place top 5five at the State Meet, breaking my own school record again, the Mansion Park record and continue my District Championship winnings.”

Q: What is your future looking like after high school? Do you plan to continue with sports? 

A: “I plan to run track at the Power 5, Division 1 School, University of Pittsburgh and major in chemical engineering.”

Q: What is your background with track and field and what made you decide to participate in indoor?

A: “I’ve been with track since seventh grade, so I’ve been around it for a long time. I’ve always enjoyed it, but I joined indoor because it’s my senior year. I wanted to be a leader for a good team. It’s fun too.” 

Q: What does typical training look like for your event(s)?

A: “Usually you get a pole and do pole runs. You do a lot of core work and push ups. Also a good amount of running. 200m and 400m runs at a tempo pace.” 

Q: How do you prepare for meets mentally and/or physically?

A: “Physically stretching and eating well. You can’t eat bad or chug a bunch of soda, anything that will upset your stomach. But mentally I listen to music and put myself in a good spot mentally.” 

Q: What is your most memorable moment in your indoor/outdoor track career so far? 

A: “Penn Relays last year. I placed third. It’s an international meet so that was probably my most memorable moment.” 

Q: Do you have any pre-competition rituals or routines that help you get into the right mindset?

A: “Rutters chicken with Old Bay and ranch. That’s what I eat before every meet.”

Q: Do you find that being a student-athlete has taught you valuable life skills?

A: “Yes. Hard work and how to balance two things at once is extremely important. If you put all your focus on one thing the other thing lacks.”

Q: I know you committed to Penn State. What was your recruitment process? 

A:  “At first in my eleventh grade year it was slower. Last summer it really started to pick up. I started to get emails from coaches and invited to smaller meets. They have unofficial visits and official visits where you stay overnight and meet the coaches. They are stressful, but you meet a lot of cool people. You just have to pick where you like the most and what best fits you.”

Q: What is your future looking like after high school? 

A: “I’m going to Penn State to major in business. I’ll probably be there for four to five years depending if I redshirt or not.”

Q: Do you have any advice for anyone looking to get into indoor/outdoor track?  

A: “Just come out and try it. Don’t come out and think you’re going to run a specific race. You can run whatever you want. Don’t try to focus on one event because you could be better at the other 12 events. Just don’t limit yourself on what you want to do.”

Q: What is your background with track and field and what made you decide to participate in indoor?

A: “I’ve been doing track and field since seventh grade, and I’ve always been naturally good at shotput. Since it’s my last year, I wanted to make the most of the spring season and get an early start with winter track.”

Q: What does typical training look like for your event(s)?

A: “I warm up by doing different exercises on the stairs. Then I do a lot of plyometrics to strengthen my legs and balance. After all of that, I start to practice my spin for the shot.”

Q: How do you prepare for meets mentally and/or physically?

A: “Before every meet, I walk around the track and listen to calm music, then whenever it’s almost time to throw, I get some caffeine in me and try to get as hype as possible.”

Q: What is your most memorable moment in your indoor track career so far? 

A: “My most memorable moment was placing at Shippensburg last year with my first 50 ft throw.” 

Q: Do you have any pre-competition rituals or routines that help you get into the right mindset?

A: “Before I throw, I do five pushups, slap my thighs and jump as high as I can to activate myself.” 

Q: Do you find that being a student-athlete has taught you valuable life skills?

A: “It has definitely taught me how to balance my lifestyle. Sure I could be a better student if I didn’t participate in sports, but I value the lessons that sports teach me.”

Q: Are there any athletes or individuals who inspire you in your indoor track journey?

A: “Ryan Crouser.”

Q: Are there specific competitions or goals you are aiming for in the future?

A: “I want to go to the States and place in the top five. That would be a really big accomplishment for me.” 

Q: What is your future looking like after high school? Do you plan to continue with sports? 

A: “I wish to continue sports at either Saint Francis or Cornell University”

Q: Do you have any advice for anyone looking to get into indoor/outdoor track?  

A: “Don’t look for results right off of the bat, take your time. Results will come eventually.“