TEN QUESTIONS WITH...

You’re a local product from near-by Lockport. What made you decide to attend UB?

Actually, I didn’t really want to come here until I came for my recruiting weekend and I met the team and it was really cool and I met the coach and he scared me in high school because his team was amazing when I was in high school and then when I came here, I thought that everyone was really dedicated and everyone loved what they did.

How exciting has it been to see UB athletics become so much more competitive in the MAC over the last four years?

It’s really cool because during my recruiting weekend, we came and we watched a game and there was probably like 100 people in the stands for a double-header basketball game and now you have to really get tickets to come and you go to swim meets and there aren’t any seats left. I like it.

In 2004, you set both the UB indoor and outdoor record for shot put. What is the difference between throwing the shot put inside versus throwing outside?

Inside, the things you look at are different because when you’re outside, you have a bigger area so, because I’m a spinner, it messes up when you’re turning and the things you’re looking at. The shot put indoor is a lot bigger than outdoor, but they weigh the same and it’s the same circle, the environment is just different.

You compete in a variety of throwing events for the UB women’s track and field team, including the hammer throw, the discus, the shot put and the weight throw. Which event is your favorite and why?

The discus isn’t my favorite event, but it’s like my surprise event. Shot put, I love it, that would be absolutely my favorite but the hammer and the weight are fun for me.

In the beginning of your career, you had the chance to go head to head with former UB star and teammate Faith Thompson. How did competing against her early in your career help you later on?

Faith is one of my best friends, I met her when I was in 7th grade, she was throwing amazing and I was just this little kid, and I was like ‘I’m going to beat her someday’. She’s my inspiration, big time, she taught me how to be controlled, emotionally, and I tend to get really excited. She’s taught me a lot of things. I could go on forever. Everyone says, ‘oh, you live in her shadow’ but I don’t live in her shadow. I look up to her, to learn things from her. I watch her when she competes, when she throws and I try and learn different technique things from her.

As your season progresses towards the Mid-American Conference Championships, how does your training change?

Weight lifting wise, we lift pretty heavy all year. We train through all of our meets so it’s not like we try and peak for the first one or anything like that. When MAC’s come, depending on the level each person is at, each person is at a different level, you’ll do probably more quick workouts, like light, explosive workouts, whereas other people when they try and peak for nationals, so through MAC’s, it doesn’t really change until two weeks before nationals.

Last year, you redshirted. How do you think that extra year of training helped you prepare heading into this season?

My redshirt year was amazing. The year before I redshirted was terrible. I was stressed out, school, everything so when I redshirted, I learned how to compete for myself and have fun again. I actually went with Faith (Thompson), we competed in Boston at the USA National meet, which was awesome. We threw with the Olympians, I had to throw after the best throw in the world at the time. I honestly learned how to compete for myself and how to make it fun because before it wasn’t fun.

What are your personal goals, with this being your final season?

I do, but they’re a secret.

Track and field is a sport in which the team is scored collectively, while individuals score points for the team. Is track and field more of an individual sport or is it more of a team competition?

I think track is both. Obviously, it’s individual because if I as an individual am amazing, I’m going to help the team but if our team is just O.K., it doesn’t make as much of a difference. You have to have really good individuals to come together to make a team to get points. Each individual scores points, like first place is 10 points, second place is eight, etc., and if you don’t have good individuals, you’re not going to have a good team, really, but bonding is still really important. You have to be a team. It’s a lot like swimming.

What has been your favorite moment as a UB student-athlete?

The last year before I redshirted, Faith (Thompson) and I were throwing the hammer and I hadn’t qualified for regionals yet. I had qualified in two events, but not the hammer. I don’t know what happened to me, but I threw amazing and I missed second place by like three inches or something. That was pretty huge, we got first and third, so we got a lot of points for our team and that was exciting, we came from behind.