As the remainder of the 2019-20 season was canceled on March 12 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Sun Belt Conference is helping others get to know Sun Belt student-athletes presented in a Q&A series on the league's website and social media platforms.
Q: Why did you choose to attend Arkansas State?
A: I chose to attend Arkansas State because it has a great track and field program. The team, as well as the staff, are both incredibly supportive and willing to make me into a better athlete.
Q: What do you enjoy most about being a student-athlete?
A: What I enjoy most about being a student-athlete is that I get to be at the track and improve myself while simultaneously studying a major that I enjoy (psychology).
Q: What drew you to compete in track and field?
A: I have always competed in track and field since I was young and now that I’m older, I like being able to physically see measurable improvements which is something other sports can’t show.
Q: What is one of your favorite memories about competing in track and field?
A: My favorite memory about competing in my sport was making the Australian World U20s team and competing in Tampere, Finland, in 2018. It was my first world championship event.
Q: What is one of the best memories you have competing in a Sun Belt Championship event?
A: My best memory was this past indoor championship where I won my first Sun Belt medal, broke the school record and qualified for nationals (in the pentathlon).
Q: Who is one major influence in your life? Why?
A: I can’t choose only one influence—I’d have to choose three. My older brother for inspiring me to be a heptathlete and compete in track and field, my Dad for coaching me since I was 12 up until the point I committed to Arkansas State (which would have been difficult, I can be hard to coach at times) and my Mum for coming to every school and sporting event I can remember.
Q: What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you?
A: I’m a psychology major, I like to read, I'm the youngest of three siblings and I love bacon and chicken nugs. That counts as one right?
Q: You are one of the best in the pentathlon, ranking No. 1 in school history, No. 1 in the Sun Belt and No. 1 in Australia! What does that ranking mean to you and what has it taken for you to earn it?
A: It means a great deal to me to be ranked No. 1 at Arkansas State, especially knowing what a great program they have and who has come before me. It's taken a lot of hard work to get this far from where I was as an athlete last year and I'm proud of my achievements and where my training is taking me.
Q: Out of all Sun Belt athletes, you were put into one of the most unique situations amidst the COVID-19 pandemic – actually being at the NCAA National Championship when it was canceled. Obviously a number of emotions – how did you handle and navigate that time?
A: The Championship being canceled was crushing and not just for me. For my coaches and myself, all of our hard work of qualifying for nationals was pretty much all ripped away. Handling that time was hard. It didn’t seem real and when it finally sunk in I really just tried to not let it affect me and focus on the fact that there was nothing I could do about it.
Q: Hopefully you have now had some time to reflect and think about what an amazing year it was for the Red Wolves and you individually. How do you put all of that success into words?
A: It’s far too hard to put this year’s success into words but I’ll try. My team had an amazing indoor season and it’s extremely unfortunate we don’t get to show what we had in store for the outdoor season. Both indoor team titles, four indoor school records, a cross-country title and me personally, I’m incredibly proud of this team and what we had to offer. I can’t express how happy I am with this year and how excited I am for what’s to come.