The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Catching up with Destinee Hooker
04.23.2009 | Track & Field / Cross Country w, Track & Field / Cross Country
April 23, 2009
AUSTIN, Texas -- Despite spending a year away from the track, junior high jumper Destinee Hooker has certainly not missed a beat. Hooker quickly carried her success from the 2006 and 2007 campaigns into the indoor season by clearing a world-leading height of 6-3.5 in her first meet back in over a year.
The San Antonio product then went on to shatter a nine-year old collegiate indoor record with her title-winning jump of 6-6 (1.98m) at the 2009 NCAA Indoor Championships. Hooker not only broke an 11-year old Texas record but also cleared a height that hadn't been reached - indoor or outdoor - by a female collegiate athlete since May 23, 1999.
With the current nation-leading height, three NCAA titles, a collegiate record and five All-America honors under her belt, Hooker heads to the 100th Drake Relays and to a place where her name can be found somewhere other than the heat sheets.
At the 2007 NCAA Midwest Regional held at Drake Stadium, Hooker equaled her then-personal best height of 6-4 (1.93m), taking down a six-year old stadium record and breaking the meet record she set during her freshman campaign.
This weekend, Hooker will look to have the same type of success she had during her last trip to the blue track. Competing in the invitational section of the high jump, Hooker will come across some experienced competition, including Amy Acuff, Chaunte Howard and Sharon Day. In the field of 10, there are five 2008 Olympians, a combined total of 12 NCAA titles and 11 U.S. Outdoor titles, the U.S. Olympic Trials Champion, and the Drake Relays record holder.
The invitational high jump begins at 1:15 p.m. Central on Saturday, April 25.
Prior to heading to Iowa, Hooker to some time out of her training to talk with TexasSports.com about her expectations heading into the weekend.
On facing high jump legend and five-time NCAA Champion Amy Acuff: I have jumped against Amy a few times and each time I have fallen short to her. She is the person that you want to beat and she has a lot of good qualities and mind games. She really knows how to play the game, plus me being young in that situation, I always learn from her as well. You watch her jump and she really knows how to rest her body. She'll say `I don't need to jump this, I know I can clear it', so she'll take a break while all the young ones just want to keep jumping.
I don't know all of her strategies since I've been out for the last year so I don't know what she's capable. It will be a head-to-head thing but I'm looking forward to it because Amy is a great competitor. She's been in the game for a long time and has been very successful.
On her expectations heading into the Drake Relays: I'm actually just excited to be back at Drake since I haven't been there since 2007. I want to get more rhythm of course, but I'm not trying to go in there and take everything for granted because you don't know what could happen. I want to play the game smart and also understand my body and know the environment I'm in. It's always nice to come back to that kind of environment but you have to be ready for a crowd and be ready to face off people that have competed there more recently.
On progressing from the indoor to outdoor seasons: Indoor, I went from 6-3.5 down to 5-11.25 and then back up to 6-4 and 6-6. Now coming into the outdoor season, I've opened with 6-3.5 again, but I'm going down instead of heading up. I'm going to have to take this slow and really think about the mental game instead of worrying about people around me. I let a lot of mental things bother me like sitting down for a long time at the Twilight was really hard. I was going to come in at six feet but it got to the point where I was going to be the only jumper when I came in so I kept thinking `I need to get in, I need to get in' because my legs were already tired from sitting for so long. Just basically knowing my body and knowing how it works, my rhythm is the key right now.
On keeping her name in the record book: I hope to at least keep the record up there or maybe even break the record, because I know I'm capable of doing that. But basically I just need to stay on my guard and be ready.
On how the experienced competition will help prep for Championships season: It would be a really key chance to battle against Amy and Chaunte and the rest of the field, because I'll be ready when regionals come and then nationals come to see good competition. Then right after nationals you have U.S. Outdoors which I'm sure they'll be at that as well. But basically I just want to play the game and not get too caught up in my surroundings and the clapping atmosphere because I'm sure that's going to happen. Just staying focused and maintaining my speed and my rhythm.
