Confident Freshmen Prepare for NCAA Outdoor Regional Meet
Don’t tell them they’re only freshmen. South Carolina track & field rookies Rachel Glenn and Ashton Lindley are off to a fast start in their collegiate careers, and as they prepare for the NCAA Regional meet with the hopes of making the NCAA Outdoor Championships, they’re not just happy to be there.
Ashton Lindley
“I want to go further than regionals,” said Glenn, who won the SEC Outdoor Championships in the high jump last week and was the national runner up in her event at the NCAA Indoor Championships earlier this spring. “I want to push myself to my best abilities.
“I’m going into it like it’s just a normal meet. I try not to be as nervous. Going into Indoor, I was super-nervous, so I don’t want to have the same mindset. I’m just going to go and see how it goes.”
“It is a big deal,” said Lindley, who is the No. 1 ranked freshman in the nation in the 400m hurdles and was part of the bronze medal-winning 4x400m relay team at the SEC Outdoor Championships, where she ran the anchor leg. She also earned All-American status at the NCAA Indoor Championships as the Gamecocks finished seventh in the 4x400m relay. “I don’t really expect to end at regionals. I’m going to give it my all to try to make it to the finals, and from there, make it to nationals. That’s the goal.
“I’m nervous, of course. I try not to focus so much on the things I can’t control. I can’t control what other people are doing. I try to focus on my race plan. I just try to keep my head straight and don’t get too crazy. It helps, but this is still a bigger stage. It’s different because I’m in an individual event this time, and it’s outdoors, so it’s going to be a lot bigger crowd.”
Glenn and Lindley are part of an outstanding freshman class at South Carolina, which despite their youth, didn’t plan on just waiting in the wings during their first year of collegiate competition.
“I expected to be up there,” Lindley said. “You hear the term ‘true freshman’ all the time, but it really doesn’t matter in a sport like this. I’m just proud that we’re all doing what we came to do and there is still a lot more to come because we still have three more years. It makes me really proud.”
“Of course, this is where I expected to be,” Glenn said. “Coming to a D-1 school, I expect to perform at a high level. I just look at myself as another competitor. It’s hard because we are freshmen, and everyone reminds us that we’re freshmen. When I was being recruited, I noticed that we had one of the best incoming classes. That really caught my eye for me to come here. It has exceeded my expectations.”
“Coach Karim (Abdel Wahab) really instills his confidence in me.”
– Ashton Lindley
Glenn’s high jump victory at the SEC Outdoor Championships was the first SEC title by a freshman since 2012 and her leap of 1.89m was the highest jump of any champion since 2015, when South Carolina’s Jeannelle Scheper won that year.
Lindley is part of the 4x400m relay team, which is ranked fifth nationally, and she was the top freshman finisher in the 400m hurdles at the SEC Championships while being ranked 10th nationally in the event.
The ability to stay loose and tune out everything else is one of the keys to success on meet day.
“Everything gets really quiet,” Lindley said of the moments before her events. “It doesn’t matter what’s around you. At SECs, there were people clapping before, and then as soon as I got down, it was just silence. It all gets tuned out.
“I just don’t like waiting in the blocks. That’s the thing that makes me nervous; just sitting there. When the gun goes off, I’m fine.”
Rachel Glenn
“The toughest part is that it takes a long time,” Glenn said. “With high jump, I have to sit a lot and wait for all the competitors to jump. It’s really the waiting and the anxiety.
“It also depends on how close it is to when I’m jumping. I can be looking around at other events, or if I had a lot of homework that day, I’m thinking about that. The only time I think about it is when it’s my turn, and I tell myself I have to focus now.”
With a couple of weeks to prepare for the postseason, both will try to keep it simple.
“I don’t need to change anything too much,” Glenn said. “I need to stay consistent with my training, diet, and positive mindset. I think that’s so important to keep a positive mindset and not stress too much on anything. Just go with the flow!”
“Don’t stress too much,” Lindley agreed. “Just do what I’ve been doing and try to do a little bit better.”
While the competition will certainly be great, competing in the SEC has prepared them, and both hope the NCAA Regional is just the beginning.
“Being in the SEC, it’s the most competitive conference,” Lindley said. “It helps a lot to be competing against the best so very often. It makes you push yourself. I want to run a p.r. (personal record). That’s it! I would be disappointed if I didn’t make it to the championships.
“I was a confident runner coming into college. But it is a lot different because we are freshmen. It came with a lot of maturing, and my coaches helped a lot with that. (Assistant) Coach Karim (Abdel Wahab) really instills his confidence in me. He tells me all the time, ‘I really believe in you.’ It helps a lot.”
“I’ve progressed a lot mentally,” Glenn said. “Running-wise, I wasn’t really that confident, but the coaches made my confidence go up. Jumping wise, they made my confidence go up because my coach said I was a 6’5” jumper. I thought, that’s kind of high, but it turns out I’m coming close to that!
“It would be very disappointing if I didn’t make it to the championships, but if I p.r., I’d know I went pretty high.”
The NCAA East Regional will take place in Jacksonville, Fla., May 27-29.
