SE: Commonwealth Games Helps Nina Schultz Realize Track and Field Passion Again
May 09, 2018 | Track & Field, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
K-State sophomore Nina Schultz has always been hard on herself, but she's felt it this season more than ever.
The four-time All-American knows this part of her has led to great success in track and field. It's also taken a toll on her, so much so that the enjoyment she got from the sport became more about times, heights and distances, rather than her original passions for it — the camaraderie with teammates and competitors, as well as the dream of representing Canada, her home country, in major championships.
Then she went to the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia this April. There, she won a silver medal with a new personal best in the heptathlon (6,133 points), a mark that ranks third in the world this season. More important, she said, is she realized her passion again for track and field.
"It was just really great to be back on the international stage," Schultz said. "I just feel like being out there with athletes from all over the world, it was a different type of camaraderie."
The prime example Schultz refers to in order to explain this athlete-to-athlete bond is the final event of the heptathlon, the 800-meter run. Schultz entered the seventh event in second place overall. Shortly before it, Angela Whyte, also a Canadian heptathlete, approached Schultz with a selfless proposition.
"Right after the javelin she came over to me and just said, 'Whatever you need to run, let me know and I'll help you run it,'" said Schultz, who ran a personal-best time of 2:17.40, thanks to Whyte pacing her, to hold on to second place. "To have that after six events when you're out there competing for yourself, you're trying to get a medal for yourself and you have someone offer their race for you, it was really emotional, honestly. I was so incredibly happy about that.
"The experience, not just the medal, but just competing with those girls and being out there with the crowd, it meant a lot to me."
Last year, Schultz said she came in with little expectations of what she should accomplish. Then, as Schultz puts it, she "made a name" for herself in collegiate track and field. That will happen after placing third in pentathlon at the NCAA Indoor Championships and second in the heptathlon at the Outdoor Championships as a freshman.
With her freshman season came self-imposed pressure to top it. So far, she has, even if she hasn't appreciated it as much.
Schultz finished second in the pentathlon in the NCAA Indoor Championships and currently ranks first in the nation in the heptathlon. She has set new personal bests in all but two events, the javelin and shot put. She even was named the USTFCCCA women's National Athlete of the Week, the first Wildcat to ever receive the honor during the outdoor season.
Still, she described her sophomore campaign as a "tough season" because there was always the next bar to clear or another millisecond to shave. Her time in Australia helped reshape her mindset, however.
"I definitely learned a lot and I think the main thing is just let yourself have fun. That's ultimately why you got into the sport," she said. "I'm pretty hard on myself so this whole year I've just been focused in on improving. Then getting away from it all and having fun with my friends out there, it just reminded me why I got into it.
"My Commonwealth experience kind of opened my eyes that I was being too hard on myself. I just need to take a step back and enjoy it."
Schultz said she is grateful K-State Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Cliff Rovelto supported her decision to compete at the Commonwealth Games. Not all collegiate coaches do, for various reasons. Even fewer would make the trip out to Australia to coach their athletes, like Rovelto did.
She was not the only Wildcat to compete there, either.
Freshman Tejaswin Shankar, representing India, finished sixth in the high jump. Jess St. John, a senior representing Antigua and Barbuda, broke her country's national record in the shot put. Former Wildcats Alyx Treasure (high jump) and Ifeanyi Otuonye (long jump) also competed.
"The collegiate system is tough and a lot of coaches from other schools don't let their athletes even compete at their home national championships, and to have a coach that supports your own dreams, it's really amazing," Schultz said of Rovelto. "And to have him fly all the way to Australia to coach us, I just feel really lucky to have a chance to work with him."
Refreshed and refocused, Schultz now faces the final stretch of her second collegiate season. First will be the Big 12 Championship from Friday to Sunday in Waco, Texas, where K-State's women will try to defend last season's conference title and where Schultz will look to repeat as the meet's High Point Scorer.
Schultz said the focus is not on repeating, individually or collectively, but instead replicating the approach the team brought to last year's Big 12 Outdoor Championship.
"You don't go in thinking, 'Oh, we won last year so we have to win this year,'" she said. "We're just trying to finish the season strong and just hopefully do the best that we can and not really worry about points.
"Ultimately, I just want to finish the season strong with my teammates and have fun out there."
K-State sophomore Nina Schultz has always been hard on herself, but she's felt it this season more than ever.
The four-time All-American knows this part of her has led to great success in track and field. It's also taken a toll on her, so much so that the enjoyment she got from the sport became more about times, heights and distances, rather than her original passions for it — the camaraderie with teammates and competitors, as well as the dream of representing Canada, her home country, in major championships.
Then she went to the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia this April. There, she won a silver medal with a new personal best in the heptathlon (6,133 points), a mark that ranks third in the world this season. More important, she said, is she realized her passion again for track and field.
"It was just really great to be back on the international stage," Schultz said. "I just feel like being out there with athletes from all over the world, it was a different type of camaraderie."
The prime example Schultz refers to in order to explain this athlete-to-athlete bond is the final event of the heptathlon, the 800-meter run. Schultz entered the seventh event in second place overall. Shortly before it, Angela Whyte, also a Canadian heptathlete, approached Schultz with a selfless proposition.
"Right after the javelin she came over to me and just said, 'Whatever you need to run, let me know and I'll help you run it,'" said Schultz, who ran a personal-best time of 2:17.40, thanks to Whyte pacing her, to hold on to second place. "To have that after six events when you're out there competing for yourself, you're trying to get a medal for yourself and you have someone offer their race for you, it was really emotional, honestly. I was so incredibly happy about that.
"The experience, not just the medal, but just competing with those girls and being out there with the crowd, it meant a lot to me."
Last year, Schultz said she came in with little expectations of what she should accomplish. Then, as Schultz puts it, she "made a name" for herself in collegiate track and field. That will happen after placing third in pentathlon at the NCAA Indoor Championships and second in the heptathlon at the Outdoor Championships as a freshman.
With her freshman season came self-imposed pressure to top it. So far, she has, even if she hasn't appreciated it as much.
Schultz finished second in the pentathlon in the NCAA Indoor Championships and currently ranks first in the nation in the heptathlon. She has set new personal bests in all but two events, the javelin and shot put. She even was named the USTFCCCA women's National Athlete of the Week, the first Wildcat to ever receive the honor during the outdoor season.
Still, she described her sophomore campaign as a "tough season" because there was always the next bar to clear or another millisecond to shave. Her time in Australia helped reshape her mindset, however.
"I definitely learned a lot and I think the main thing is just let yourself have fun. That's ultimately why you got into the sport," she said. "I'm pretty hard on myself so this whole year I've just been focused in on improving. Then getting away from it all and having fun with my friends out there, it just reminded me why I got into it.
"My Commonwealth experience kind of opened my eyes that I was being too hard on myself. I just need to take a step back and enjoy it."
Schultz said she is grateful K-State Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Cliff Rovelto supported her decision to compete at the Commonwealth Games. Not all collegiate coaches do, for various reasons. Even fewer would make the trip out to Australia to coach their athletes, like Rovelto did.
She was not the only Wildcat to compete there, either.
Freshman Tejaswin Shankar, representing India, finished sixth in the high jump. Jess St. John, a senior representing Antigua and Barbuda, broke her country's national record in the shot put. Former Wildcats Alyx Treasure (high jump) and Ifeanyi Otuonye (long jump) also competed.
"The collegiate system is tough and a lot of coaches from other schools don't let their athletes even compete at their home national championships, and to have a coach that supports your own dreams, it's really amazing," Schultz said of Rovelto. "And to have him fly all the way to Australia to coach us, I just feel really lucky to have a chance to work with him."
Refreshed and refocused, Schultz now faces the final stretch of her second collegiate season. First will be the Big 12 Championship from Friday to Sunday in Waco, Texas, where K-State's women will try to defend last season's conference title and where Schultz will look to repeat as the meet's High Point Scorer.
Schultz said the focus is not on repeating, individually or collectively, but instead replicating the approach the team brought to last year's Big 12 Outdoor Championship.
"You don't go in thinking, 'Oh, we won last year so we have to win this year,'" she said. "We're just trying to finish the season strong and just hopefully do the best that we can and not really worry about points.
"Ultimately, I just want to finish the season strong with my teammates and have fun out there."
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