OCR Text |
Show to thrower Destanae Howerton-Davis has made the most of her time at Utah, and as that time is winding down as a senior on the track and field team, she cannot believe it went by so fast. "People always told me it would come and go as quickly as you thought it would, and it did," Howerton-Davis said. "It happened in the blink of an eye, and it's over now." Originally from Las Vegas, where she was a multi-sport athlete, participating on the volleyball and basketball teams in addition to being a part of the track team, Howerton-Davis felt right at home at Utah. She said one thing she will miss most about being up on the hill is the bonds she made while here. "I came from a school where I was the only female thrower at the end of the season," Howerton-Davis said. "Coming to college and having other girls to throw year-round was something that was exciting and I never had before, and I'll always remember that." Howerton-Davis, who has broken numerous school records in her time as a Ute, said the transition from high school to college was difficult because she was expecting to excel at the same level in her college performance as she did in high school. Despite that fear and other challenges during her time at Utah, Howerton-Davis believes all those experiences have helped shape the person she is now. "[I had to overcome] mental blocks and college in general," Howerton-Davis said. "I went from winning every meet in high school to college, realizing that I'm not the best anymore, and I've got to work for everything I get. It's also made me a stronger person." While Howerton-Davis attributes part of her success to her coaches and fellow teammates, she is grateful to her parents who have been there every step of the way. "My family [is always] backing me up 100 percent and always encouraging me," Howerton-Davis said. Howerton-Davis' parents were able to attend the final home meet of her career at the Utah Spring Classic on Friday, where she won the women's shotput. She may not have thrown the distance she wanted, but Howerton-Davis said it was nice to be at home for the last time, especially with her parents by her side. "It wasn't the mark that I thought it was going to be, but I enjoyed myself, I had fun," Howerton-Davis said. "My parents got to come out and watch me throw, and we had a home crowd, so that was exciting and nerve-racking, but exciting." Head coach Kyle Kepler said he was ecstatic she was able to perform well in front of the home crowd. "She stepped up and did a terrific job," Kepler said. "Just really proud of her. It's exciting to see her do so well here today." With the Utah Spring Classic being the only home meet for the team, the Utes like to recognize their departing seniors halfway through the meet every season. Kepler mentioned that it will be hard to replace Howerton-Davis, in addition to the other seniors the team will lose at the end of the season. "She's just been such a hard-working kid," Kepler said. "Very passionate, charismatic kid in our program and always giving her best." Howerton-Davis said even though it may be a cliché, her teammates are like a family, and she doesn't know how she is going to replace them. "You get new athletes every year, and you encourage them," Howerton-Davis said. "I think the best part of it for me was when I came, having girls to encourage me, [and] now seeing the younger girls come in and encouraging them. It's a cycle, and I'm going to miss them." Howerton-Davis is unsure of what the future holds after her athletic career, and she doesn't know whether to be scared or excited. "[I have] so many emotions," Howerton-Davis said. "Excitement, fear of what's to come. I don't know what my life is going to be like next year. [I've been] reminiscing on what it has been. It's been a great ride." For the last part of the season, Howerton-Davis says she hopes to qualify for regionals in both the discus and shot put and is looking forward to the end. "[I'm] trying to throw far," Howerton-Davis said. "I feel like I've finally gotten to a point where my technique is down — I'm still working on my quickness. Once I've got all my bases covered, I have a solid foundation. I'll be ready to throw far. I've been waiting on it, so hopefully it comes through." k.brenneisen@chronicle.utah.edu @kbrenneisen I U AIN AS H ME EET A STORIES BY KIM BRENNEISEN /STAFF WRITER PHOTOS BY KIFFER CREVELING 4 { THECHRONY I NEWS I OPINION I ARTS I SPORTS I MONDAY, APRIL 13, 2015 } I he Utah women's track and field team hosted its first and lone meet of the season Friday in the Utah Spring Classic, and head coach Kyle Kepler thought it was a success. "I think the meet went off great," Kepler said. "The weather held up, so I'll take credit for that. When the weather's crappy, I don't. Overall, I thought our kids competed hard, and we capped it off tonight with a flushing of a school record." The highlight of the meet came at the very end, when Alissa Atisme came in fourth place and shattered a school record in the women's 100-meter dash, causing several of her teammates to rush to her side to bombard her with congratulations. "I feel so good, it's so exciting," Atisme said. "Last week was so rough, and it was just so good to run fast finally. It's just really rewarding, having that home-track advantage and being able to do it here in front of all my friends and family and support staff." Atisme also finished third in the 200-meter dash. She said last year at this time, she was disappointed in herself but is now completely confident in what she accomplished on Friday night. "I'm glad I was able to clear my head, and this is the only home meet of the season, of the year," Atisme said. "I'm just really glad I was able to pull things out today." Kepler and several of the athletes on the team agree it was great being able to compete at home for a change. Jessica Sams, who finished first in the 3,000-meter run, loved seeing other athletes come out to the McCarthey Family Track and Field. "I love the home meets," Sams said. "It's fun to see all of our fellow Utes out here supporting us, too, because they don't really get to see a lot of track meets because we're always on the road." Aside from the home crowd, Sams thinks they had a great plan going into Friday's meet and was happy to see it hold up. "We just tried to go out as a team and strategically run the first half really smooth and the second half just try and get some turnover going," Sams said. "We all worked together, and it was a good pact. We did exactly what we wanted to today." Judging her personal performance, Sams knows she didn't run her best, but this was not her goal. She wanted to familiarize herself with the five-kilometer race and rest up for the next couple meets. "I did really well," Sams said. "It's not close to my [personal record], but being at altitude, it's kind of hard to run distance races fast, and so I did what I about wanted to time-wise, and I felt really good." Utah had another meet at Weber State on Saturday, but the Utes' main focus is on the road meets next week when they travel to California for the Mt. SAC Relays on Thursday and the Bryan Clay Invitational on Friday. Kepler said some athletes may simply need to rest before hitting the track again, but others may need to continue to push themselves harder. "[We'll] take advantage of [the] multiple-meet situation out there," Kepler said. "Just got to figure out what their strengths and weaknesses are and make sure they're as good as they can be at the end of the year." Sams said she has a few things to brush up on before they leave. "I'm really trying to focus on getting more turnover and more speed," Sams said. I'm really trying to drop my time and qualify for regionals in the 5K." Although Atisme was beaming on Friday after her win, she's looking for ways to run even faster, topping Friday night's performance. "I know I still have a lot to work on," Atisme said. "Just keep performing well in practice, and it will translate to the track later on." Other notables from Friday's meet include Destanae Howerton-Davis finishing first in the women's shot put, Ilse Kaaja taking first in the women's hammer throw and Lauren Mills placing second behind Sams in the women's 3,000-meter run. k.brenneisen@chronicle.utah.edu @kbrenneisen 5 |