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: Can you tell me about your student athlete experience so far?
A: (deep breath) My student athlete experience has been tough. It’s been tough, but in a good way. I think that the different challenges that I’ve had with having to balance schoolwork, athletics, mental health, family, friends … it’s definitely given me a lot of tools to equip myself for my future. I think that being able to have a team that has a family aspect but also being able to incorporate the different things like my schoolwork … It’s tough sometimes. College is definitely a whole different ball game than high school. I think that the challenges, in the midst of them, it seems really difficult, but it’s pushed me to be able to be now where I’m at in grad school - about to finish out with my last semester. It’s given me a great opportunity to experience different things, different people, different challenges and to push me towards having a better motivation, for example, time management. So it's been tough, but it’s been tough for the better so I love it.
Q: Right from the very beginning, you made an impact with the UAlbany track and field team. In your first America East competition, you won the shot put event at the AE Indoor Championships. Can you tell me how that felt?
A: Ooo … that’s definitely like top two moments of my whole career and I’ve been here for a little bit. *laughs* That was one of the best moments because I threw 50 feet and some change, but it hit so much better because I never thought I would throw 50 again. I had been struggling … I had been in high school for four years, I was getting accustomed to coming into the university as one of the top recruited freshman for UAlbany and I was struggling. My indoor season … getting adjusted to a new coaching staff and working to being able to trust the teaching that I was receiving. Coach [Abel] Gilet - he was working with me intensely - but it was tough so being able to come in, win conference - not just win conference with 14 meters or something like that but to throw 15 plus meters - a mark that I had been working for so hard … it was a sigh of relief. Kind of like starting the engine into outdoor which transferred all the way to junior nationals later on. It was that breath of fresh air … it was kind of like the start of the motivation of pushing me towards making the decision to stay here for another few years. It was one of the best moments of my life … like I was crying - and crying is not really my thing - and I was in my mom’s arms like a baby. To have my team there supporting me and just feeling that energy … like I said before it was like the engine started for the rest of my career at UAlbany. So, definitely top two moments … it was the best.
Q: I can’t not say this - you paused in in your answer when you said “start” and I’m thinking: *sings* of something new …
A: *laughs* Literally, I feel like that’s what it was. It was crazy … it was a crazy moment, and that was … I’ve had conference [competitions] in high school but the energy’s not like that. The energy I had … I had my teammates on the side of the fence and I had teammates on top of the track - because the track’s elevated. I couldn’t physically see everybody, but I was feeling the energy. I was hearing everybody screaming and yelling and it was something that I wanted so bad. So, when I did it, I was like jumping in the circle and all I heard was my coach yelling “OUT THE BACK! OUT THE BACK! OUT THE BACK,” because I could’ve stepped right out the front and it would’ve been a foul. That was definitely the best moment - I felt the love, the motivation to feel as if all the work that I had done was worth it, but this isn’t the end, this is just the beginning.
Q: Yeah! I have worked an indoor track and field conference championship before and that environment …
A: It’s intense!
Q: I could not imagine being a competitor in the competition. I was working with a team I was not all that connected to, but I was still feeling the energy of “we are going to win this.”
A: You feel like, even if you’re not competing, whether you’re spectator or an athlete … you’re sitting there and your heart’s beating and you’re holding your breath just for that last moment. It’s intense.
Q: So … now, here you are five years later and the awards have piled up. You’re an 11-time all-conference winner, four-time athlete of the week, five-time America East Champion, and a couple more … can you talk about your practice regimen? What helps you with your success and keeping it up throughout your career?
A: I’m really a visual learner so being able to have a certain practice regimen that catered to the athlete individually is really important. With Coach Abel [Gilet], we’re not crazy far in age, so there’s a lot of things that he breaks down that I’m able to understand. [Or, when I don’t understand], we now have that history and coach-athlete relationship to where he understands … like I’ll look at him with a blank face or, sometimes, I don’t even have to speak, he’ll be like “okay”, and he’ll get up and be like “let me show you”.
I would say [about] every Friday, we have a film session to where we not only break down our own individual throws as athletes, but we also break down other professional athletes. I think one of the main things that Coach Gilet has helped me realize is that everybody does something their own way. I think that was one thing I was really focused on my freshmen year - he showed me a professional athlete and I was like ‘okay, I need to throw like them,’ but he made me realize that everybody approaches what could be the same technique in a different way. So, we were able to cater my practice regimen to being able to have drills with a visual aspect. Not only just throwing but breaking it down in drills - in steps and making it a process. I think that’s one thing that’s made me value my whole experience so far was that it’s a process and it’s a journey. Sometimes you get so amped up because you have a great practice one day and you want that to follow through the rest of the season. but it’s not like that. It all plays a role; it’s like an intricate puzzle but it all plays an important role to when you finally get to the end of the race which is usually regionals or nationals, or for some people, conference. So, our practice regimen has been more catered to be heavy on the visuals - breaking it down to talk about certain things but also carrying out those changes, which for me, personally, is usually through drills. Then once we do the drills, we go into the technique of throwing, but we still break that down … once we break the technique down within the actual specialty, for example, I’m a rotator within shot put … breaking that down step by step by step until I really understand that. We’re not going to move on to the next process [until that happens]. Sometimes I’m impatient – I think ‘I got it three times in a row, let’s move on,’ and he will say ‘you need to get it three times in a row now AND when we do it next week.’ It all follows through … you want to have consistency throughout the season. It doesn’t equal a personal record but if you have consistency, it will build up to the big things and that’s what we try to implement in our practice.
Q: Speaking of that consistency, I’ve been told that you are the kind of competitor that no matter what happens, even on your bad days, you’re going to make it so that you win … and going through some of your results, they may not be the consistent marks that you typically hit, but you’re still winning events. What do you do that may help you in these situations, the ones where you’re having a bad day and you just need a win?
A: I think ... I would say ... I’ve always taken this sport very seriously. I knew that I wanted to come to college; I knew that I wanted to throw; I knew that I had aspirations to like go to the Olympics and stuff like that, so I think I’ve had to really build mental toughness. When you’re in high school and you’re throwing 50 feet, you’re coming to a meet where you have girls who may not be throwing as far so it’s an easier meet. But when I came to college, sometimes 50 feet can just get you in the final, so in the beginning, experiencing those different meets - like for example, we went to a meet in Arkansas where I basically got washed, but to experience that made me build the mental toughness to where even if distance-wise things aren’t going good, I always have to try my best to take something from the meet. For example, there could be one meet where maybe I only throw 45 feet but maybe there was something I was working on throughout the last couple of weeks technique-wise and I got it down at that meet. At the forefront of it … nine times out of 10, I’m disappointed because maybe I didn’t throw the distance I wanted to, especially if the whole week I was having a great practice, but once I get from the forefront of my emotions of probably being disappointed, I always look at the bigger picture … even if I did end up winning because that one win is definitely a confidence booster, but how did I win? Did I win by just muscling it; did I win by actually getting something down that I’ve been working on really hard, because, again, it contributes to the consistency. If I have a meet where I win or I didn’t win if I can get something down that I’ve been working on or whatever my goals may be … if I can take one out of the three goals it’s something; it’s a step towards when I get to those bigger meets, to where everything will sooner or later fall together.
The consistency is tough but the mental toughness that I have been able to build throughout my college experience … I would say my teammates, because they’re the main ones that motivate me, there’s times where I’m just like this is exhausting, and they’re just like ‘but remember that day where you had a great practice?’ or ‘remember when you got this down,’ or just highlighting the good things, while not putting things that I still need to work on because sooner or later everything just comes together perfectly and then I’m going to hit 53, 54, 55 feet in the shot, or hit 180, 190 in the discus. It all plays a role; being able to manage myself mentally, because it’s exhausting thinking in practice about technique and other things … like I do three events so there’s times where Coach Gilet is talking about shot put to me but he may be coaching another person on hammer. So, I’m focusing on shot that day but then I’m listening to him talk about hammer to another teammate [with advice that might help me]. Being able to manage myself and know what to give certain energy to but also knowing I want to be the best I can definitely help with consistency and being able to perform the way I want to in competition.
Q: You mentioned a little bit about this … you threw out a couple of different events in your last answer. For every event, except one, that you have competed in at the America East Championships throughout the last four of five years, you have earned points. And I’ve been told that being able to rotate through throwing events isn’t really something people typically do. Can you tell me how you are able to switch between those with something that, from the outside looking in, seems like ease? What’s the secret?
A: The challenge. I like being challenged. Ever since I was little, if I was doing an assignment and I got it, and the teacher wants to go over it, I’m like ‘I don’t see any point. We’ve done this already,’ … so hammer [throw], discus, and shot [put] … they all semi go hand-in-hand a little bit but it’s the challenge. To be able to say, like you said, it’s not very common, but I don’t like to be common. I like to be uncommon … I like to be challenged. I’m focusing on shot [put] but then I’m still listening to when he’s coaching about hammer [throw], or I’m still also listening to when he’s coaching another teammate about discus. The multitasking but all in all it’s the challenge to be able to know that I can do all these events, I can be multitalented, and have something to … I guess like, fall back on at times too. I’ve been doing shot [put] for like a decade plus and coming into college, that was the first time I’ve seen the weight throw and I’ve seen the hammer throw. Not discus, I’ve also thrown discus but shot [put] was always my primary … having that challenge and being able to experience it in different ways … they also all help each other hand in hand, so I think being able to handle that it’s difficult. To see the success that plays out when I’m able to compete in all those events but also they’ve all helped each other hand in hand because nine times out of 10 times, I’d say if have an issue with shot [put], it usually shows in discus and hammer [throw] and then vice versa so they’ve all helped each other in a way … but with that, it’s the challenge, it’s the satisfaction of seeing me perform at a lot of events. To the naked eye, they look like totally separate things, but when you look at the science of it and the details, they all play a major role and that challenge of being able to be immersed in that and see myself do it and see myself do it at competition … again its exhausting. Having one day where you’re throwing all three events … but the exhaustion comes after. In the midst of it, the adrenaline, the challenge, doing it, that’s what it is … the motivation, the differences in the roles that they play with each other all helps in the end.
Q: Your name is all over the UAlbany track and field record book. You have a couple of shot put records, you rank in the top 10 list for all of the events you have competed in … what does it mean to be able to leave this kind of legacy here?
A: It’s an honor. It’s something that I didn’t anticipate, but the longer I was in college, the more the picture became bigger and bigger to what I could achieve, so it’s the greatest honor. There’re numerous athletes that came prior to me, like Tara Belinsky and Venique [Brown (neé Harris)] - she’s a discus thrower - to be amongst them, it’s the greatest honor. Not only are they great athletes, they’re great human beings, so to be amongst them, it’s the biggest blessing that I’ve ever received to be amongst top athletes and to touch that success. That’s why I’m excited for this upcoming outdoor, my final outdoor season, because there are a lot of different things that I want to touch on … that I want to do. I feel like my name’s there but I need it stamped and engraved … it’s exciting and it’s a huge blessing.
Q: Did you know that you are one of the two people in program history to break 50 feet in the shot put in both indoor and outdoor, and Tara was the first one?
A: yes, I feel like Coach Gilet definitely mentioned that to me, but it’s not something that’s always at the top of my head. That’s great because, like I said, Tara is a great person. We still keep in contact to this day. That’s good for us … it’s a great feeling for us to be in the same conversation with that.
Q: Now for the hard questions: how did the women around you help you to become the athlete and the person you are today?
A: Friends and family … I have very very very strong women that are around me and I think that when I see … when I witness them go through very hard stuff … looking from the outside in, that has been something that has motivated me to push forward. There’re a lot of challenges, and I’ve seen it in a lot … that athletes go through a lot with mental health, and to be able to have different people that I can rely on to vent to or to just to feel their energy of support, it’s something that I value a lot. It’s a huge blessing to feel their energy around me, for them to push me, for them to encourage me, because it’s not always easy. Women, we go through a lot of different things; we encounter a lot of different things and we internalize a lot of things at times, and to feel the energy around that you’re not in this alone, whether its teammates or coaches, or family, it’s something that I would say contributes to why I’m still sitting here right now.
Q: What does it feel like to know young women and girls may look up to you because of your position or your success?
A: It feels good because there wasn’t a lot outside of, of course, my own personal women that I looked up to … there wasn’t a lot of women, that you see being strong … openly strong. Sometimes, you feel like you have to fit into a box of certain things but to know that there’re young women that are younger than me that sees that it’s okay if you go into the gym and you’re squatting 400 pounds … I didn’t see that a lot, when I was younger. As I got more and more into the sport, and did my due diligence, I did research and then found some women, but you don’t see it as much in the open. To see the sky’s not even the limit for the strength they have, emotionally, physically, and mentally, it’s an honor. It’s hard to be a person, and on top of being a student-athlete, but to know that I can show that if I can do it, you can do it … and even though sooner or later my journey is going to end in this chapter but that doesn’t mean that you have to limit yourself. There are record boards in the weight room that I go for. I don’t care who had it and I don’t care what the judgment may be … “oh, ‘cause you’re a girl” or “you’re a woman” … I think there’s no limit to the strength that you can have in any capacity … in anything.
Q: Last but not least, what does women’s history month mean to you?
A: Women’s history month means strength … it means resilience. It means you are who you are, and there’s always going to be a place for you. I think a lot of people … women at times, we … I’ll speak for myself. Sometimes I struggle to find my place and I’ve realized that there’s not a specific slot because we’re all individually made different. To be able to make my own lane, to make my own impact, created kind of a visual for myself of being a woman and being the person that I am … that I can push through things. It’s okay to not be okay but at the end of the day you still got to pick yourself up and keep pushing because not only do you have other people relying on you whether you know it or not, but you also have you relying on you. You’ll go through different things and then in the end when you get through it, you’ll just look back and be like “man, I really thought I wasn’t going to get through that.” Life’s not perfect but being a woman and being strong, being a thrower, is something that I’ll never forget. It’s everything that I’ve been through and has played a major role in the adult that I’m going to be. I hope and pray that the impact that I have here at UAlbany, I have that impact in all the other different lanes and different things that I’ll touch as I go on further in my adult life.
For more content from the Women's History Month #GreatWomenGreatDanes series, click here.
