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All too often in the sport of track & field, a common occurrence happens. In a youth’s quest to be good at something, they find it difficult to stick with a particular event, or even with track & field at all for that matter, when others are defeating them in competitions. The sheer nature of track & field is individual A good example of what can happen if an athlete does stick with the program, and gradually increases knowledge, training and experience, is Utah’s Amy Menlove. She started track & field at a very young age, had many ups and downs with her track career, but never gave up the sport. It was something she enjoyed, and over the years found herself to be very good at as time went on. In 1992, at the age of 6, a tiny gymnast from Sandy, Utah began her trek towards track & field super-stardom in Utah. She joined the South Valley Track Club’s summer program, and began learning about the sport of track & field with her brother, Kit, and her cousin, Micah. She began as a pre-bantam, and was just a tiny skinny blonde girl out having fun with her family and new friends from the team. She had a very supportive family and Amy tried all different kinds of events. She ran everything from the 50 meters to the 800 meters. She even learned how to throw the softball and shot put. That year, I noticed that this girl could jump, and began teaching her the long jump and triple jump. She competed in the triple jump at the All-County Championships, and set a new pre-bantam age group record of 16’2”. Her destiny in the jumps was established. If she were to have given up on the sport, she never would have realized her potential. In 1993, Amy returned to the South Valley Track Club, now age 7, and joined with other girls from her team to form a 4x400-meter relay team that broke the existing county record. Also, she won the long jump that year, (as the youngest girl in the event), with a leap of 10’09.50”, the second farthest pre-bantam jump in the history of Salt Lake County. However, this was also the first year that she realized there were faster girls than she was, even on her own team. Although Amy also won the 200 meters at the All-County Championship, there were three girls on the team that could beat her at the other sprint distances. If she were to have given up on the sport at this point, she never would have known what she could really do. During the 1994 season, at age 9, (her birthday’s in the late summer), Amy’s 4x100-meter relay team qualified for the Junior Olympics, and she traveled to Gainesville, Florida for her first national championship meet. This was also the year that competitors such as Jasmine Rona, Roni Moore, Jackie Jewkes, and Whitney Olsen from the state of Utah began defeating Amy on a regular basis. She found that she liked competing as a member of the relays as there was less pressure. She did; however, compete in the Hershey district meet this year in the individual 200 meters. She placed third, and was crying afterwards. If she had given up on the sport, she never would have accomplished what was to come. From 1995 to 1999, Amy continued competing in a variety of events, even dabbling in the multi-event competitions. Each year, she also competed in the Utah Summer Games, the state’s largest track & field meet. In 1995, she was the Utah State Champion in the triathlon as a bantam. That same year, she tied the USATF Region 10 triathlon record, and went on to place 8th at the Junior Olympics in San Jose, California. In 1996, now in the midget age group, she joined with her teammates to form a 4x100-meter relay team and placed 5th at the Youth Athletics Nationals held in Salt Lake City, Utah. Then, in 1997, she placed 4th in the midget girls pentathlon at the Youth Athletics Nationals in Orlando, Florida. In 1999, Amy won the high jump, and the 100 meters, and also jumped 16’4” at the Utah Summer Games. She competed in the USATF Region 10 Championships this year, but was defeated in the long jump by Amber Casey of Colorado. In 1995 and 1999, she also participated in the relays at the Hershey Nationals in Hershey, Pennsylvania. If she had given up on the sport during these years, she never would have gone on to accomplish the things she did. In 2000, after a long struggle, Amy recovered from Achilles tendonitis in both ankles, and she left the sport of gymnastics that she had been dedicated to for 10 years. She began competing against Utah’s high school ranks in track & field for Alta High School, and quickly found herself getting defeated. She competed in indoor, and traveled to the Simplot Games, where she failed to make the qualifying mark in the long jump to advance to the semi-finals. She continued her training on her favorite event, the long jump, and improved her personal best to 17’06.00”, taking 2nd at Utah’s 5A State Championships. She was the #2 ranked long jumper in the state, and was only a freshman. This same year, under the direction of Alta’s sprint coach, Doug Robinson, Amy began improving her sprint times, and realized that she could potentially be a fast sprinter. Her personal records after her freshman season were 12.96 in the 100 meters, and 26.18 in the 200 meters. She was also invited to the Great Southwest Track Classic in Tempe, Arizona, where she placed 6th in the long jump with a 17’02.25” leap, (behind Utah’s Roni Moore, who won the competition). If she had given up on the sport now, she wouldn’t have gone on to break records. 2001 was a breakthrough year for Amy. Her brother Cody passed away the previous year and the loss of her brother weighed heavily on her mind. During her indoor campaign, she traveled to the Simplot Games, and absolutely redeemed herself. She not only made the qualifying mark in the long jump to advance, she defeated all of her competitors, winning the event with a leap of 18’03.00”, against strong competitors such as Dana Bethel of California and Julie Pickler of Texas, and received her first national ranking. She began her outdoor campaign incredibly strong, jumping 19’02.50” to win the UHSTCA Invitational, the first girl in Utah to officially jump over 19’00.00”. She mentioned her brother after this competition, stating that she felt inspired by him to jump well that day. She then won the 100 meters at the 5A State Championships in 12.03, a meteoric improvement over her previous year’s personal record. She also took 2nd place in the state meet 200 meters with a 25.11, another incredible time improvement. She was again invited to the Great Southwest Track Classic, now in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she won with a 19’05.50” jump. She capped her sophomore season off with a 12th place finish at the USATF Junior Nationals with an 18’05.00” leap, her first competition against the best juniors in America. If she had given up on the sport at this point, she wouldn’t have achieved the incredible feats that were to come. Some track fans in Utah were a little worried about the 2002 season for Amy Menlove. Recent history had shown us that some of the best girls in Utah shine their freshman and sophomore years, only to not return to their previous bests the last two years of their high school careers. Her indoor campaign began a little shaky, as she was defeated by local competitor, Michelle Partridge, in the Indoor State Championship long jump. But, by the time she traveled to the Simplot Games, she was back in top form, and she successfully defended her Simplot Games title with a win over Renee Williams of California, with her 18’05.75” jump. She then traveled to the Armory in New York, and placed 4th in the National Scholastic Indoor Championship with a jump of 18’05.00”. In the Spring, Amy traveled to the Arcadia Invitational, where she jumped in the Invitational section, placing 5th, with 18’09.50”, one spot behind her Simplot Games competitor, Renee Williams. At the Utah Region 2 Championships, Amy had an incredible meet. She won all four of her events, the 100 meters in 12.02, the 200 meters in 24.23, the 400 meters in 57.82, and the long jump with an amazing 20’01.25”. The meet did not have a wind-gauge, so the jump was not considered official for a new state record, but she was still the first girl in the state of Utah to ever surpass 20’00.00” in the long jump, official or not. At the state championships, Amy continued her dominance, winning all four of her events. She was just recovering from an intestinal flu she had caught 36 hours before the meet, but was still able to pull off a 12.25 in the 100 meters, 24.69 in the 200 meters, 56.60 in the 400 meters, and 19’00.25” in the long jump. Amy traveled to the Great Southwest Track Classic as the defending champion, but was overtaken by Texas’ Francheska Ketchum, who’s 20’01.75” jump, defeated Amy’s 19’03.50” effort. She also competed in the 100 meters, taking 3rd in 11.77; the 200 meters, taking 2nd in 24.31; and the 4x400-meter relay, her Utah team winning that event in 3:49.58, her 400 split was 53.40. Her season wasn’t over though. She traveled to the Golden West meet, and placed 4th in the long jump with her 19’02.00” mark, and then on to the Adidas Outdoor National Championships, where she placed 3rd with a 19’02.75”. She ended the season with national rankings in the 100 meters, 200 meters, and the long jump. She was awarded the National Scholastic Sports Foundation’s “Accelerade All-American” in the long jump. If she had given up the sport now, she wouldn’t have received a college scholarship. The 2003 season has now begun for Utah’s Amy Menlove. During the fall, she signed a letter of intent to compete for Brigham Young University. She began the season with an indoor campaign that is unprecedented in the state of Utah. At the Utah Olympic Oval Indoor Invitational, Amy was defeated in the long jump by local sophomore phenom, Shawnee Slade, taking 2nd with 17’11.75”, behind Slade’s 18’03.00”. At this same meet, Amy also ran 7.50 in the 60 meters, which at the time of this writing still remains the #5 FAT time on the national rankings list this year. At the UHSTCA Indoor State Championships the tide’s changed for her in the long jump. Amy defeated her nearest competitor by 14 inches, claiming the victory after her defeat last year with an 18’11.00” jump. She also won the 55 meters in 7.12, and the 400 meters in a time of 58.41, both nationally ranked times. Amy then traveled to the Simplot Games for her high school finale at that incredible venue. She had a rough time with the 60 meters, making the finals, but placing 7th, with a time of 7.70. Coming into the meet as a two-time defending champion in the long jump, there was a lot of pressure on her, and there were other jumpers from around the country that wanted that victory. Renee Williams of California fought the hardest battle against Amy. When all the jumps were completed, Amy and Renee were tied for the win at 19’02.00”. The judges had to research each jumper’s full series of jumps to determine who had the better 2nd best jump, and Amy was awarded the victory. Simplot Games long jump Champion, three years in a row. Then, at the Utah Olympic Oval’s Western States Open, Amy turned out incredible victories in all of her events. In the 60 meters, she won by over 3-tenths of a second, running 7.54 on the Oval’s incredibly fast Mondo track surface. She also won the 200 meters by over 9-tenths of a second with her 24.62, gaining yet another national ranking in yet another event. Her most amazing performance; however, came in the long jump. She used the Oval’s fast track to her benefit, and opened up her series with a 19’03.00”. The crowd around the pit immediately knew that she had some great jumps in her that day, as she moved up from #8 to #6 in America with that jump. Her second jump was 18’09.00”, and she followed that up with an 18’07.00”, completing her preliminary jumps. In the finals, Amy opened up with a 19’05.00”, moving up to #3 USA. She was really flat on her 5th overall attempt, and jumped 18’05.50”. Before her final attempt, Amy was given the proper direction to focus on, and she stood at the runway, ready for a big jump. The focus was evident, and she charged down the runway, hitting the board with only an inch or two to spare, and jumped 19’06.75”, #2 in America. She defeated her nearest competitor by over 21 inches.
INDOOR OUTDOOR: A: “It feels good. I knew it was possible for me to do, so I was just going into the meet to do the best I could and I knew that whatever happened would be the best of my ability. I would be pleased with it no matter what.”
A: “I feel very accomplished. It feels good to have won a big national-caliber meet three years in a row. I was very surprised the first year I won it and so the next couple of years I felt as though I could win it again, but I knew it was going to be tough.” Now, at the height of her high school career, she once again has the opportunity to leave the sport. Will she leave everything that she has accomplished behind? Not at all, Amy has plans...
A: “I am very excited. They have a good program and I know that they will be able to help me achieve my very best.”
A: “Work hard, have a lot of fun... No plans for a major yet.”
A: “My goals this year are to long jump 20’6”, run the 100 meters in 11.60, the 200 meters in 23.90, and the 400 meters in 54.00. I will be going to Arcadia, Great Southwest, Adidas, and Junior Nationals.” Q: Do you have any post-collegiate plans? Olympic goals/aspirations? A: “I would like to go to the Olympics, but for now I am shooting for Junior Nationals, maybe Junior Worlds, and eventually the Olympic Trials.”
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DyeStat
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effort, sometimes for the greater good of a team, but definitely individual effort. So, when one’s individual effort isn’t winning, a large number of young athletes leave our sport each year, most often going to “team sports”, such as soccer, basketball, baseball, etc. In the “team sports” atmosphere, their individual efforts are not so easily noticeable, and they are able to contribute to a team day in and day out. In track & field, each event is spotlighted for just a moment, throughout each competition, and the athletes participating in these events are noticed on an individual basis immediately. When a young athlete doesn’t perform as well as they would like to, this becomes a great deal of negative exposure, and it’s difficult for them to overcome this. The path of least resistance is the most easily taken, and a large number of athletes are too competitive to “stick it out” over the duration, learn the events, train hard, and progress consistently over the years.