LA JOLLA, Calif. – Idaho track and field splits up again this weekend, sending student-athletes to the Triton Invitational in Southern California and the Pelluer Invitational in Cheney, Wash. Competition for both begins on Friday.
--
Last time out,
Rechelle Meade took fourth in the long jump at the Mondo Team Challenge in Sacramento. And when asked about it earlier this week, she was as candid as it gets.
"Not great, to be honest. I'm just having difficulty performing in competition, which is weird. I've had a lot of fouls and I've just been hurting a little bit more than usual."
You see, missing the podium is just something that Meade doesn't do. She has posted a mark in a collegiate long jump competition 23 times. 10 times she won, 10 more times she reached the podium. To make it more impressive, one of the other three meets was the 2017 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships First Rounds, so missing out on the top-three is pretty reasonable.
"Last meet I was ridiculously frustrated. That was my rock bottom, for the first time in a long time. I think coming off of that, I'll be more prepared for the rest of the season. I have that animosity building in my chest. I think I'm feeling a lot freer, and I'll be able to execute.
"I notice what I did wrong, and I work toward fixing that at the next meet. Get that down, and see what else I need to work on before conference and then attack that."
That's the plan; be ready for Big Sky's, which has never been an issue for Meade. In five Big Sky Championships, combined between indoor and outdoor, Meade has five medals in the long jump. Two months ago at the Indoor Championships, Meade took home her first gold. She finished at 6.13 meters, breaking six meters for the first time in more than a year.
"It felt great, but at the same time I was being very critical of myself. I know I had bigger jumps but I didn't mark them. So I know the bigger jumps are there, and if I can just not foul them that will be fantastic. They're there, I just need them to come out in competition."
Back to the plan, Meade is working on putting the pieces together ahead of the outdoor championships.
By tearing some other pieces down.
"I feel like I'm hitting some walls and I'm trying my best to overcome them, but it's just not happening all at once. But it's happening. Different pieces of the wall are breaking down instead of it coming crashing down all together."
Piece by piece, brick by brick. One day at a time.
"I try as much as possible to stay out of my head. I need background noise, to distance myself from the competition. The more I think about competition, the worse I do. I just sing a song, or walk around dancing, and when it's time for me to go, I take a deep breathe, execute, and start the process all over again.
"Once I get in my head, I think of the worst possible scenarios that could happen. I think about what I'm doing wrong. When I go to jump, I focus on that one thing and forget all of the other steps. For me, it's about trusting my body and all the practice I've done. When I'm in competition, making big changes won't be very effective, so I have to trust the process and that my body knows what to do."
Now, with about a month before the Big Sky Outdoor Championships, Meade is looking to defend her title. In style.
"I think the mark is going to have to be at least 6.20 (meters). I think I'm going to get aggressive. Not intentionally, but if someone is ahead of me I'm going to get aggressive.
"If I win, I want to win. Whoever's in second, whatever their PR is, I want to beat that. So even if she thought she could win, if she jumps her best, it still wouldn't have been enough.
"I want to be able to say 'This is my spot and no one else has an opportunity to take it.'"
--
To stay current on all Vandal Athletics visit
GoVandals.com, or follow the Vandals on Twitter, @Idaho_Vandals.
Fans can stay up-to-date on all things Idaho track and field/cross country by following the team on Twitter @IdahoTrack.
