State Champion spotlight: Jennifer Martin Lewiston HS
What were your preparations leading up to the state meet?
Leading up to the state meet, coach Soracco had me start getting into race mood. We worked on exploding out of the blocks and focusing on one race at a time.
How did you deal with the pressure and emotions that come along with competing in a state meet?
I was really nervous going into the meet. The only thing I could do was focus on getting a PR and enjoying the meet with my teammates. We played a whole bunch of games to kill time and nerves while waiting to compete.
You had a two week layoff from competing in between the KVAC Championship & State Meet, but came out and ran 8.75 in your trial. How were you able to stay sharp?
I remained focused throughout the two week layoff. I knew that I wanted to go under 8.8 so I ran my workouts as fast as I could and gave it my all.
The hurdles is a race where one misstep can throw off your whole race. When you got into the blocks at states what was going through your mind?
As I got into the blocks, I felt like a nervous wreck. All I could think about was attacking the first hurdle.
When you crossed the finish line what was the feeling knowing you had won the title?
I almost cried when I won the title. I was ecstatic and couldn't believe that I finally won after four years of hard work.
Coming into the season what were your goals and did you achieve them?
Coming into the season, I had the goal of breaking my high school record that I set during sophomore year. I'm happy to say that I was able to achieve this goal and lower the record to 8.73.
How do you think winning an individual state title will effect you heading into outdoors?
Winning this title will hopefully have a positive effect on my outdoor season. The only thing I can hope for is to keep improving.
Martin's Hurdle Progression
| INDOOR | Graph |
|---|---|
| 2017 | 8.73 |
| 2016 | 8.94 |
| 2015 | 8.76 |
| 2014 | 9.74 |
