State Champion Spotlight: Camille Kohtala (Orono)
What were your preparations leading up to the state meet?
Leading up to the state meet I was trying to get a lot of sleep and eat well, as well as staying really engaged during practice and keeping my mind in the right spot.
What was one thing that you focused on this winter that made a difference in your performance?
This winter I focused on doing some extra strength training outside of practice and consistently eating healthy throughout most of the season!
You really pushed the pace on the first lap in the 400m, and dominated the race to win the state title. Was the plan coming into the race? And what did it mean to win your first individual state title?
I pushed the pace the first lap because I knew it was the only way to get as close to sub 60 as possible; it's always easier for me to start fast and try my best to maintain as opposed to starting relaxed and trying to speed up.
It meant so much to me to win my first individual state title because I knew I had put in a lot of work this season and had, after lots of runner up titles, been waiting for awhile to get that top spot on the podium at a state meet!
Coming into the season what were your goals and did you achieve them?
My main goal this season was to go sub 60 in the 400, and even though I was 3 tenths off of that, it was still .5 seconds faster than my outdoor PR. Being so close on an indoor track really pumps me up for outdoor! My other goal this season was to jump 16 feet in long jump; jumping 18'2 was never anywhere close to being in the picture for me so it was so insane to jump that well this season! My last goal was to generally have a fun first indoor season(I switched from cheering this year) and that was definitely achieved!
If there was one even you haven't done that you would like to try what would it be?
I'm super excited at the prospect of trying some of the pen/heptathlon events that I haven't ever competed in to try and make myself a more well rounded and potential multi athlete later on in my running career. I learned to hurdle a bit during this indoor season, so I expect to at least be trying that out at a meet or two during outdoor, along with possibly gaining some knowledge in some throwing events.
What have your coaches meant to your success?
My coaches mean absolutely everything when it comes to my success. Our head coach, Chris Libby, does an amazing job setting up sprint workouts to help us peak when it counts, as displayed by individual and 4x2 relay PRs at states! Our long jump coach Miguel Caballero is a fantastic athlete and an incredible coach and really helped me a lot this season to completely change my long jump technique and help me PR by about 2.5 feet this season! I really wouldn't be able to do it without them.
