Jaylyn Lane, sophomore sprinter, recently was named ODAC Field Athlete of the Week for the weekend of February 8 and 9. The Track and Field team competed in the Vince Brown Invitational Newport News, Va. hosted by Christopher Newport University.
Lane had a terrific week, and is looking forward to the future and continuing her success. With the Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship meet coming up, Lane is looking for the gold and top spot in the conference at multiple events.
Lane had a good day in three different events. In the women’s long jump, she came in second place, only losing to the winner from VCU by 0.03m. Her mark on the day of 5.27m is good enough for her to be posted as first place in the ODAC.
Lane, running in one part of the team 4×400 relay race, took first place that weekend with a speedy time of 4:34.09. In the women’s triple jump, she came in fourth place in with a distance of 10.65m.
When talking to Lane about how new coach, Jesse Weiner, and her team atmosphere has played a role in her development as a runner, she said; “we help each other throughout each individual piece of the puzzle.”
She continued, “Our team is small, so as of right now, do what we can do our best.” Jaylyn and her team have found ways to push each other and be a team, while also working on their own craft and be the best athlete that they can at their specific event.
Moving on to talking about how the offseason has shaped her into the runner she is now, she said,;”I do a really hard training in the summer, just to keep my body in shape. Like weight room, eating right. I always go on a diet over the summer.”
To Lane, it seemed that she has put in months of work, and it is finally paying off. She was thankful to receive the honors of Field Athlete of the Week.
When talking to Weiner about what it means to him, he said, “I am not surprised that she won, but I know that she could have done better.”
That is high remarks about someone who is finally hitting their stride and being successful. Coach Weiner went on to say, “she has the drive to do it…hopefully hit some new marks this weekend.”
Lane is a determined athlete who is looking to improve on her successful season. She was looking back on the past two years that she has had on VWU’s campus and with her team. She described her most memorable moment as, “the best experience I have had is when I got the school record.”
Lane broke the school record for triple jump last year at the Captains Invitational & Combined Events hosted by CNU on Jan. 26, 2019. Her mark was 11.04, which was the best in the whole entire meet.
She continued, “My team was screaming for me… it was a very big moment.” Coach Weiner said, “She is a very competitive athlete. And she definitely listens to us, coach-wise.”
For an athlete who takes part in so many events, the best way to keep her mentally locked is because, “You got to have amnesia,” Weiner said “Taking that amnesia from one event to going to the next and just preparing for that event, by itself, one at a time.”
By having that mental state of forgetting the bad and celebrating the good, it has helped not only Jaylyn, but her whole team compete for the top spot in almost every event in the ODAC.
“You have to be able to learn…Celebrate… then go on,” Weiner said. With that in mind, Weiner wanted to emphasize on the celebrate part and how if someone accomplished something, then there must be celebration.
Lane is currently sitting in second place in the conference, at the women’s 60m with a time of 7.95 which she achieved on Jan. 17, 2020 at the VMI Keydet Invitational.
In her meet on Feb. 22, Lane finished second in the triple jump with a mark of 11.22m.
After that, the ODAC championship is coming up on Feb. 29 and March 1, then also later in mid-April. Jaylyn and her team are looking to succeed at the NCAA indoor Nationals.
Noah Riffle
nbriffle@vwu.edu
