THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, JULY 14, 20
TRACK AND FIELD
High jumper overcomes collegi
GJ MELIA
sports@kansan.com
Going into her freshman year of high school, sophomore high jumper Grace Pickell, from Prairie Village never planned on taking up track. She originally was a swimmer, but chose the track over the pool, and became a two-time Kansas state champion her junior and senior years of high school.
The 2013-14 season was filled with nuances for Pickell, but the most difficult change was her adjustment from high school to college competition. She's going into this season with a different, and much more focused mindset.
"I'm definitely more enthusiastic this year because I do know what to expect," Pickell said. "It makes me more excited to work hard because I know what's coming. And after having a really frustrating freshman year, I'm so much more motivated to work hard and get back up [to Lawrence]."
Pickell described her freshman indoor and outdoor seasons with one word: frustration. She had different expectations from her results, and she had difficulties adjusting from high school to college competition.
"I would have ups and downs. I was pretty consistent at five feet five inches, which is all right but not great," Pickell said. "In high school, the heights that I would usually win at would be where we would start a lot this year, which was kind of intimidating."
The difference between high school and college was huge for Pickell, but the challenges she faced weren't always on the playing field. Her father was always one of her biggest motivators growing up, and not having him by her side in college competition was a difficult change for her to make.
"I tried really hard respect the fact that she had coaches at a higher level that knew what they were doing" Grace's father, Tim Pickell, said. "And she needed to make that transition and be independent."
Tim still sent her words of encouragement when he could, but recognized that it was much different than high school.
Both Grace and Tim said faith fueled a good amount of their competitive nature.
"While certainly high jumping isn't something that is going to save the world, anything you do in your life that molds your character and gets you through tough times I think builds you up and prepares you for doing things to help people," Tim said. "So, I just encouraged her to rely on her faith muscles."
In high school, Pickell's coach let her structure her practices to some degree, but her coach at the University was much more up-front and demanding of her.
"They are both very quiet. They don't say a whole lot because they want you to figure out what you are doing," Pickell said. "My high school coach always asked, 'what do you want to do, what do you think we need to do today?' Whereas in college it's like, 'this is what we're going to do, I don't care if you don't want to do it or not."
Pickell found that working with her teammates would be another aspect of her adjustment. The talent level increased greatly, and she had to approach meets and practices differently than before.
"In high school, it was more fun competitive, rather than intimidating," Pickell said. "But it's a good thing because we can work with each other and push each other."
Pickell's goal is to clear six feet sometime in her career, but said it may not happen this year. Right now, she is fully focused on the task at hand: training. She said she's being patient, and she'll compete to the best of her ability.
"I want to go into the year better in shape so I can push myself harder the whole time," Pickell said. "My biggest thing is if I feel like I'm working hard and doing the best that I can, that's all I can do."
Edited by Emma LeGault
Sophomore high jumper Grace meet this past season. Pickell
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