June 10, 2015
Simone Charley has already produced many memorable moments in Eugene, Oregon — and now she’s back for more. The sophomore All-American triple jumper is headed to “Track Town, USA” this week to compete in the NCAA Championships. Charley will be making her second straight appearance in the outdoor championships, and her third overall appearance in Eugene. (She also competed in last summer’s USATF Junior Championships, where she finished third). Charley, the school record holder in the triple jump for both outdoor and indoor, is scheduled to compete on Saturday at 4:15 p.m. (CT). For an interview with Simone, see video below or click HERE. Charley qualified for this year’s Championships by finishing ninth at last week’s NCAA East Regionals with a leap of 42-4. Here’s a closer look at this week’s meet:
Event: NCAA Championships
Place: Eugene, Oregon
Site (Host): Hayward Field (University of Oregon)
Live results: HEREÂ Â
Championships Home Page: HEREÂ Â
Meet Schedule: HEREÂ Â
Event-by-event Stats: HEREÂ Â
Live Streaming: HEREÂ Â
Meet History: HEREÂ & HERE
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l ANOTHER RECORD-SETTING SEASON
Charley became the school record holder in the triple jump – in both outdoor and indoor – last season, and this year, she has continued to out-do herself. Her latest record-setting mark came during the SEC Championships, where she recorded a leap of 43-7 and finished fourth. That mark shattered her previous personal best of 43-2.5. Other highlights for Charley this season included first-place finishes at both the Duke Twilight (with a jump of 42-0.5) and the Tiger Track Classic (41-11.75). She is also an All-SEC player for the VU soccer team.
l NEW FORMAT
The NCAA Championships will feature a new format this year, which will separate the men’s events from the women’s. The men will compete on Wednesday and Friday, and the women will compete on Thursday and Saturday.
l WATCHING THE MEET
ESPN will provide 12 hours of live coverage of the meet this week. There will also be live coverage on ESPN3.com. Here’s a look at when and where the coverage can be found. (Times are central):
Wednesday: ESPNU 6 pm-9:30 pm; ESPN3 1 pm
Thursday: ESPNU 6 pm-7:30 pm; ESPN 7:30 pm-9:30 pm; ESPN3 noon
Friday: ESPN 6:30 pm-9 pm; ESPN3 6 pmÂ
Saturday: ESPN2 4 pm-6:30 pm; ESPN3 3:30 pm
l LOOKING BACK TO LAST YEAR
Charley earned All-American Second Team honors at last year’s NCAA Championships by finishing ninth with a leap of 42-7. It was the best mark among all freshmen in the event. Charley, who was the first Vanderbilt athlete to qualify for the NCAA Championships since Buky Bamigboye in 2010, earned her spot in Eugene with a jump of 43-1 at the NCAA East Preliminary Â
l QUOTING THE COACHES
Vanderbilt head coach Steve Keith and assistant coach Clark Humphreys each sat down with vucommodores.com this week to discuss this weekend’s meet. Here’s what they had to say:
HEAD COACH STEVE KEITH
On the advantage of Simone having competed at nationals before …
“She’s had four opportunities to make the NCAA Championships, and she’s done it three times. I’d say that’s about as good as you can ask for. And each experience has gotten a little better. Granted, you’ve still got to go out and get it done on that specific day, but she should have a certain level of comfort because she has been there before and knows the process.”
On the familiar field of athletes that Simone will be competing against …
“It’s like the old line from the movies ‘Let’s round the usual suspects.’ (Simone has seen) some of them at the SEC meet, and some of them again in Jacksonville. But then again, it’s not about what has happened in the past. It’s about doing it on that particular day.”
On Simone’s ability to handle the big stage …
“Every athlete is a little different. Some are so amped up that they are bouncing around the room, whereas Simone doesn’t really show it externally like that. But internally, I know there is a lot of excitement going on. Coach Humphreys does a great job of managing all of that, and putting her in the right situation and right mindset. Everything is about routine.”
ASSISTANT COACH CLARK HUMPHREYS
On Simone’s mentality heading into the NCAA Championships …
“Simone is the type of person that doesn’t want to know a lot of numbers. She doesn’t want to hear that if she does this or that, than this will happen. She feels like she is better off just going into it with the approach of ‘I am going to give it my best and see what happens.’ She just likes to go in with blinders with on. And obviously that has worked very well for her.”
On Simone’s ability to have big jumps on her early attempts …
“Well, it’s an impressive to watch, and it’s not something that every athlete can do. Some of the other competitors have to kind of work their way into it. …. In the meet at Jacksonville, they changed the format a little bit this year, where you only had three jumps to qualify. Simone was a little irritated about it at first, but after we talked through it, she warmed up to it. And we were a little more diligent going into it in terms of making sure those first ones were good. And boy, when you can put that first one down, like she did, it takes a lot of pressure off.”
On Simone’s motivation to do even more this year than last season …
“Any athlete who is worth their salt has an internal drive and an internal burn to keep doing more, no matter what they’ve accomplished. And Simone has that. For her to finish so close to the top-8 last year, and just get edged out, that was a tough pill to swallow. She’ll remember it, for sure. I am not going to make any predictions — because Simone doesn’t like that — but I am excited about what she can do.