Personal Statement
Being my school's class champion for long jump, and 6th place overall and being invited to the All New England meet in my first year of being a jumper has been the biggest highlight of my track and field career. I feel as though my less successful sophomore season made me into the athlete that was capable of the achievements I made this year. I suffered from various injuries the entire sophomore season, and although I was capable of running state times in the 300 hurdles and the 400 meter dash, I never got to reach my full potential. Instead, I had to focus on strengthening myself and becoming healthy again. It was not easy to watch my team compete for, and win, the state title without me.
This experience gave me a whole new feeling of determination for junior year. Fortunately, I am a part of a track program with a history of being state championship contenders, and I have great coaches to train me and guide me and I think they have shaped me into a team leader and a great athlete. Unfortunately, my team has always been the largest team in the school, and with over 50 male teammates the coaching is spread pretty thin. This is especially true for jumpers, we didn't have very much actual jumping practice and I had to learn the high jump and long jump by myself. I think if I have the right tools available to me and the right coaching, my potential is much higher.