2008 Woodie Awards
Jump-starting her season
Jeff Pawola - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 2/13/08 Section: Sports
You might think that people who find themselves injured would not be driving the ambulance. This is not the case, however, for Renee White, a junior jumper for the Iowa track and field team.
Because she was sidelined by a stress fracture in her shin as a freshman and suffered a strained hamstring as a sophomore, success often seemed a distant shore.
Initially discouraged, she somehow managed to finish her sophomore season unexpectingly strong. She placed second in the Big Ten championships in the triple jump with a school record of 42-11?2 and took 12th place at the NCAA regional meet.
"I didn't even expect to get second. It wasn't even on my mind," White said. "Before the Big Ten meet, I was very discouraged, but finishing second really brought back my focus."
Her focus from last year has carried over to this season and led to early success - a lot of which she credits to eating less junk food during the off-season and more jogging.
"The strides she has made comes from her running in the off-season," said Iowa assistant coach Victor Houston, who coaches primarily field events, sprints and hurdles. "She has gotten a lot fitter."
Already having provisionally qualified for the NCAA championships with a season best jump of 42-01?2, White has bigger goals for this season.
"I want to jump more than 43 feet and be a Big Ten champ," she said.
A major difference for he this year, other then being free from injury, has been her composure. In previous seasons, her lack of composure led to inconsistent meets.
"She let emotion get the best of her," Iowa head coach Layne Anderson said. "She's been more consistent, and she is starting to overcome and perform under pressure."
Despite all of her recent success, Houston still feels there is room for improvement.
"She needs to clean up her approach and get more consistently on the board," he said. "She has had long jumps in the past, but they were faults."
White thinks she has been able to handle the pressure and is continuing to improve because the way she treats practice.
"I'm a lot stronger and more focused this year," she said. "I'm starting to treat practice the way I treat competitions."
A native of Jamaica, she hopes to compete for her home country in the Pan American Games after she graduates. But before then, she wants to be remembered as the Jamaican who broke 44 feet in the triple jump and won three Big Ten championships.
In order for that to happen, she has to hope that she'll remain as the driver of the ambulance, not as a passanger.
E-mail DI reporter Jeff Pawola at:
jeffrey-pawola@uiowa.edu
Because she was sidelined by a stress fracture in her shin as a freshman and suffered a strained hamstring as a sophomore, success often seemed a distant shore.
Initially discouraged, she somehow managed to finish her sophomore season unexpectingly strong. She placed second in the Big Ten championships in the triple jump with a school record of 42-11?2 and took 12th place at the NCAA regional meet.
"I didn't even expect to get second. It wasn't even on my mind," White said. "Before the Big Ten meet, I was very discouraged, but finishing second really brought back my focus."
Her focus from last year has carried over to this season and led to early success - a lot of which she credits to eating less junk food during the off-season and more jogging.
"The strides she has made comes from her running in the off-season," said Iowa assistant coach Victor Houston, who coaches primarily field events, sprints and hurdles. "She has gotten a lot fitter."
Already having provisionally qualified for the NCAA championships with a season best jump of 42-01?2, White has bigger goals for this season.
"I want to jump more than 43 feet and be a Big Ten champ," she said.
A major difference for he this year, other then being free from injury, has been her composure. In previous seasons, her lack of composure led to inconsistent meets.
"She let emotion get the best of her," Iowa head coach Layne Anderson said. "She's been more consistent, and she is starting to overcome and perform under pressure."
Despite all of her recent success, Houston still feels there is room for improvement.
"She needs to clean up her approach and get more consistently on the board," he said. "She has had long jumps in the past, but they were faults."
White thinks she has been able to handle the pressure and is continuing to improve because the way she treats practice.
"I'm a lot stronger and more focused this year," she said. "I'm starting to treat practice the way I treat competitions."
A native of Jamaica, she hopes to compete for her home country in the Pan American Games after she graduates. But before then, she wants to be remembered as the Jamaican who broke 44 feet in the triple jump and won three Big Ten championships.
In order for that to happen, she has to hope that she'll remain as the driver of the ambulance, not as a passanger.
E-mail DI reporter Jeff Pawola at:
jeffrey-pawola@uiowa.edu
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