Full Great Women Great Danes Interview Transcript
UAlbany's Great Women Great Danes is a series that will be published during Women's History Month. The series will feature Great Danes, past and present, and celebrate the women of UAlbany.
Q: The four of you have competed together for a couple of years now. Can you tell me what the atmosphere is like both at practice and competitions?
Jewel Collins: For me, the atmosphere is different. Especially [since] I’m a javelin thrower and I’m the only female … as the only female athlete, it is hard for me to find that competitive spirit or have that vibrant energy at training on my own. So, for me, training is different from competition. Competition is more competitive, more vibrant, upbeat, and stuff like that.
Ludith Campos: I think that for me, both practice and competition are kind of the same atmosphere. We all just want each other to do the best no matter where we’re at so I think that’s something that we tend to carry over from training into our competition. I think we just have a really positive environment - we just want everybody to do their best.
Shania Scott: Add to that: we’re also competitive. Even though we’re not competing at training, we still compete against each other so when we go to the meet, it’s nothing new to be very competitive.
Q: That sounds great! It’s nice to have the practice and the competition environment kind of be the same. It’s not really something that a lot of people get to be able to experience. Random question – awhile back, I saw Abel [Gilet] coaching and he looked like maybe he was doing the hammer throw but he was doing it with a chair? It looked like he was just swinging around a chair … but does he often do those outside-of-the-box types of things to help coach you guys?
Campos: I think yeah. He definitely goes out of his way to make us feel the feeling of the hammer to mimic the feeling. So, he goes out of his way to do certain movements with different objects if that’s going to emphasize a certain movement and make us feel it more. I think that’s probably what it was. Either that or we might have forgot an implement that day or something so we just had to use a chair. *laugh*
Scott: I think the day she’s talking was when we were in the track and you guys were using the white chair to throw where the discus circling …
Campos: Ohhhh. Yeah, yeah, yeah … that was definitely more for a feeling that day. The chair is so light … We try to use heavy implements, but we also try to mimic the feeling with light implements because I guess the idea is if you can do it with a heavy implement or with a light implement, you’ll be able to do it with the hammer.
Q: Each of you are at the top of your events – Ludith [Campos] on weight and hammer throw, Shelby [Bigsby] on mostly shot put, but also others, Jewel [Collins] on javelin and Shania [Scott] on discus. What is it like being in that leadership role at the top of your events?
Shelby Bigsby: I think sometimes for myself it can be difficult balancing not only yourself but also one of your teammates to do well. Especially, for example, the newcomers and stuff like that because a lot of times, along with Coach Abel giving his critiques and coaching, we also rely on each other to be able to gain a better understanding of [throwing] so sometimes it can be difficult but it’s also fun because you can have new revelations about different stuff technique-wise or even just watching events that you will probably never do, but just to learn and encounter [those techniques]. I think it kind of gives us a new perspective but also again, we’re all able to learn from each other.
Scott: Yeah, I also agree with that. Also, being at the top, it helps you to retain more information about the sport and especially your technique. You can actually coach yourself without your coach being there so that’s helpful … you can help your teammates, tell them what they need to do if Coach Abel is not there because anything can happen. We have different events and Coach Abel won’t be there exactly when we are training sometimes so it’s good that we can help each other … Not just help, but actually be knowledgeable about the event.
Q: Each of you have experienced at least one America East Champion title. Can you bring me through winning your first time?
Campos: I think I won my first America East title - it was my indoor season of my sophomore year. That year it was just such a big win for me. It wasn’t really about the win or the medal or anything like that - I was going through a really tough time that year. I had just come off of a broken hand, I was dealing with a lot of personal issues, and I didn’t really think I could throw 60 feet in the weight throw. Persevering and realizing that I could do it even after that happened to me, I think was just a great feeling.
Shania: I’m kind of similar to Ludith. My first win was in my junior year of college, which I was a sophomore [in eligibility] after COVID. It was rough when I won - I wasn’t excited because I was going through a lot. My mom passed away that year, I had an injury with my arm - my arm was taped up completely on the day - it was just overwhelming. But still, [I knew] I had to try my best and show up for the team so I was just trying to do my best and it just ended up that I won. It’s so weird that in the times we’re not mentally there, [that] is [when our] training, the work that we put in before [takes over]. It’s like you don’t even really think about it and everything … the work pays off.
Collins: For me, it was my sophomore year. It was an awesome experience. I was happy to be able to contribute in the way that I was brought here for. It was exciting, but at the same time I believe I was hoping to win, especially as a female athlete. I went there with the mindset that I cannot leave here without the gold medal.
Bigsby: Mine was, I think, my freshman year indoor [season]. It was definitely a great feeling … not just because I was able to be first, but more for the fact that the distance … because throughout the whole year, I had really been struggling and coming in with other people like Tara [Belinsky] and Venique [Brown], it was kind of hard because you still want to keep yourself in the mix. So, when I was able to win for shotput but also be able to throw a distance that I was very much questioning whether I was going to do it again, I think that was the feeling of gratitude. More towards [throwing the distance I wanted] instead of winning first.
Q: Shelby and Ludith, you both are graduate students and you’ve each won five times in your respective multiple seasons. What has it been like to consistently compete at that high level and be able to almost guarantee your team points towards the team total?
Campos: I think it’s nerve wracking for sure. I think having that pressure every year is kind of like you either have to do it or do it, you know? *laugh* You walk in really nervous but then you also walk in kind of realizing that the pressure is on you for a reason and it’s either up to you to step up to it or to back down and I think that’s where I get for every conference [championship competition] - either I’m stepping up to the plate or I’m just … and I think I’ve chosen to step up most of the time.
Shelby: For me, I feel like I try to be humble in the aspect of understanding that to a lot of people it might seem like the win is solidified but I also I want to be mindful. I try to be mindful of … God forbid this could be an off day. I try to make sure my technique and other things are in place so there’s certain things that I can fall back on … maybe something might be going on that day that I may not have control over but to be able to dig deep and lean on those [controllables] is what will help secure that win.
Q: Can each of you bring me through at least one athletic highlight from your time competing for UAlbany?
Bigsby: I want to say it was probably going to regionals my first time and that was the first competition that I was amongst a lot of like key people within the east region. Also, the fact that I had never been to a competition where it’s just three throws and that’s it. Even though, I didn’t qualify for nationals, I feel like that was a really eye-opening experience because that’s probably one of the top competitive meets I’ve been to with what was on the line. I think that opened my eyes to a lot of things that kind of prepared for me for this last and final season.
Campos: I think my best experience would have to be … my first conference win, again, just because I feel like I had so much on the line. I didn’t think … I broke my hand, and I think the day before I was supposed to come back, I found out that my grandma passed. I had to fly to the Dominican Republic. I came back and I think the whole semester, I was just drilling and drilling and drilling. I don’t really think I got to take many throws that year - I was taking one-handed throws with my left hand. So, I think winning indoor conference that year kind of just solidified that even if mentally you’re not really there, physically you can change everything around no matter what you’re going through. That was the best.
Scott: I’d basically say the same. My first win for discus outdoors like 2021[It was 2022.] Just thinking, my mind, my body is more powerful than I think it is. What it retains from what I’ve done in the past and so forth … if it was just based upon how I felt on the day, [my title] wouldn’t have happened. I feel like that one would be [my highlight].
Collins: For me, it was definitely regionals. It was probably the best competition that I have experienced. Being around high-level athletes, knowing that I was one of those that made that mark to go to that high level [of competition] was just so mind blowing for me. It was so amazing. And being able to go to that level and compete against the people … I saw some pro-level types of competition. From the energy … it was just so different, so amazing, so captivating. I don’t … it was the best competition ever.
Q: What will you take with you at the end of the season?
Bigsby: I think that the sustainability and the accountability that I feel like the sport gives me - balancing track, practices, lift, classes, being in grad school, taking two and a half to three-hour classes at night … It was like super exhausting, so I really had to hold myself accountable with schoolwork and balancing being able to make myself present in practice and lift. All that stuff tied together really gave me the chance to know the feeling of holding myself accountable, being responsible. [Also], being able to work together with other people that come from different places. Sometimes you can get push back a little bit because you might feel like you don’t have anything in common but I met a lot of great people that without track, I probably really wouldn’t have interacted with, so I think that’s something I’m super grateful for.
Collins: For me, it’s the experience and transition to working with a lot of different people, and moving from one culture into another, adapting. I feel like that can feel … it gave me an eye-opening [experience] of what working as a team would be like or working with different people for future opportunities. I’ve gotten to travel places, to explore the United States, to experience different kinds of people.
Campos: I think for me … definitely like what Jewel said, kind of working as a team and being a team player. I’ve been an only child all my life so I never really got experience the whole team aspect, which is kind of why I jumped into track because it’s a team but also very individualistic. I feel like you get the best of both worlds with the sport. I think one of the main things that I will take from here is definitely … I feel like a lot of things with athletics spills over into real life. Putting your best foot forward and not just showing up - it’s about how you show up to places. I think that’s a really big thing for me because when I was younger, I would just show up and sometimes just showing up isn’t enough. Sometimes, you need to get yourself out of a mental funk and you have to not just be there physically, but also mentally and I think that’s something that I’m going to carry on after track.
Shania: This sport has given me so much discipline. Living like [I have] for so much years [has taught me] to be organized, to always be on time, to just be an adult because I realize in today’s society, you have to have certain characteristics to go into the working world. I feel sports, like track and field, sports help build those characteristics to go into the work field. So, I’m excited for that and I’m ready to leave. *laugh*
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