Samia Taylor is in Iowa for the 2011 NCAA Championships, where she will be competing in the triple jump Friday. She is Milwaukee's first national qualifier since 2007 (Nick Gretz, discus) and is looking to become the program's first NCAA Division I women's All-American.
For more information on Samia at the NCAA Championships here
UWM SID Kevin Conway: What are your goals for the NCAA Championships this weekend?
Samia Taylor: “My main goal this weekend (is to finish in the top eight) and be an All-American. On top of that, I would no doubt like to keep PRing, but a big thing would be to go 13.30m (43-7 3/4) or 13.40m (43-11 3/4) to get me to USA Nationals in two weeks. Being at Nationals is always a privilege, but it’s also good to have big goals here because this is where you leave it all on the track.”
KC: How has this season met with your expectations?
ST: “Getting this far is still shocking to me, it still hasn’t quite sunk in yet that I’m here. I feel like I’ve worked hard to get here and just being able to improve in almost every meet, especially since conference, is great. I never would’ve thought I’d go this far, especially this soon. Coach Francis said I'd be here this year, but I kind of looked at him in disbelief. I guess I should listened to him a little more and believed what he was talking about. But, yes, this season has met all the expectations I could’ve asked for. The beginning of the season was a rough start, but I finally got it together outdoor.”
KC: After fouling in your first two jumps at Oregon, what was going through your mind on that third jump? After you qualified for the finals with that jump?
ST: “Everything was going through my mind at that moment. I was telling myself, ‘I didn’t come this far to not mark a jump.’ After those first two jumps, I was a little nervous. Coach Francis, at the moment, had walked away before my last jump in prelims, so I knew I wasn’t the only one disappointed in those first two jumps. When I got onto the runway for my final jump, I knew it was all or nothing. I knew I had to give it my all and land the jump or it was pack my bags and be done for the season. At that moment I just said a little prayer, let everything in my head go, relaxed, then I just got after it. I gave it all I could down that runway and finished the jump. When I got out that pit and seen that white flag to indicate that it was a fair jump I was relieved. I found out that it was a 12.74m (41-9 3/4) jump. That jump got me into the finals, which took a lot of stress off of me.
"Heading into finals I knew I had to go out there, relax and have fun. I knew what I was capable of, so I knew I just needed to go out there and do it. On my first jump in finals I jumped 12.91m (42-4 1/2), which moved me into fifth place. My last two jumps in finals were a little behind that, but in the end that 12.91m ended up getting me sixth place and into nationals. Even to this day it still hasn’t sunk in, but I’m glad everything came together, even though it was on the last jump. :)”
KC: You are hitting your stride heading into nationals, PRing and setting school records at each of your last three meets. How as this recent stretch helped as you get further into post-season competition?
ST: “This last stretch has definitely helped a lot. Being able to PR three meets prior, it gives me the mindset that I know I can continue on this stretch and hopefully bring it home with a huge jump. I know with coming off these performances there shouldn’t be anything holding me back on Friday.”
