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Finishing its most successful season in school history, the women’s track and field team placed third at nationals May 23. Junior hammer thrower Danielle Thu and junior heptathlete Linda Rainwater highlighted the meet, winning two of the Tritons’ three gold medals.
Linda Rainwater
Since making the move to Division II in 2000, the track and field team has won five individual national championships ‘mdash; with Rainwater earning two in as many seasons.
One of the team’s strongest athletes, Rainwater won the heptathlon in 2008 and the high jump in 2009. After placing third in this year’s heptathlon, she took home the high jump title with a school record mark of 5’9.75′. But the event was not without drama.
Competitors are given three chances to clear each bar height, and their number of attempts determines tiebreaks. Rainwater missed her first two attempts at 5’5′ ‘mdash; putting her at a disadvantage ‘mdash; but cleared the next three heights on her first attempt, winning the title.
‘After not winning the heptathlon I was really motivated to win high jump,’ she said. ‘I wanted to win that event to keep a title, so it was really just pure competitiveness.’
Her third-place finish in the 2009 heptathlon was by no means a disappointment, despite losing her repeat bid. Her score of 5,303 points was nearly 300 points better than her winning score from last year and surpassed the school record she set earlier this season.
Rainwater began her track and field career in fourth grade as a member of the Santa Barbara Youth Track Club. She competed in several events, participating in her first pentathlon in eighth grade. In high school, Rainwater excelled in the high jump and 100-meter hurdles but competed in many heptathlons as a member of the club. She only began to train specifically for the event after coming to UCSD.
‘Practices [for heptathalons] are really long,’ she said. ‘We’ll have jumps, then throws, then running and sometimes weightlifting too. But I feel like I’ve learned so much since I’ve been here.’
Rainwater said that women’s head coach Darcy Ahner, a former heptathlete from the University of New Mexico, has been very influential during her time at UCSD.
‘She knows exactly what I’m going through,’ Rainwater said. ‘She has a lot of insight, not only on the physical and technical work, but also on the mental aspect of keeping your head in the game for 48 hours.’
Danielle Thu
While setting personal goals may seem critical for some athletes, junior hammer thrower Danielle Thu likes to keep an open mind and see where her throws take her.
‘I tend not to set goals for myself, because I feel it limits my abilities,’ Thu said. ‘I don’t want to say I want to throw 190 [feet], then that’s my accomplishment for the year so I won’t try any harder.’
The Earl Warren College junior had an exceptional season, setting the school record in the hammer throw and besting that mark twice. Her season culminated in San Angelo, Texas, with the NCAA Division-II National Championships. Thu didn’t just win, she blew dust at the competition on her way to becoming UCSD’s first national champion in the event. Thu’s mark of 198’8′ won the event by nearly 14 feet and surpassed her own school record by nine feet. It was the fifth highest ever recorded in Division-II history.
Thu started throwing shot put and discus in elementary school, and began hammer throw just before high school. Though hammer throw is very seldom held in high school competitions, she was introduced to the event at a UCLA track and field camp. Thu excelled at the event and was eventually recruited to UCSD’s team.
Her successful season comes after years of weight training and technique practice, but Thu cites her desire to succeed as her greatest asset.
‘I really compete against myself,’ Thu said. ‘I always try to push myself to do better, and that’s what I really care about
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Readers can contact Liam Rose at [email protected].