SE: Shardia Lawrence Brings Better Mental Approach to Senior Season for K-State T&F, Results Showing it
Feb 21, 2019 | Track & Field, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
Shardia Lawrence's junior season for K-State track and field, in her eyes, was beyond disappointing.
She failed to make the NCAA Indoor Championships, missing the cut by two centimeters. Even though she made the NCAA Outdoor Championships a few months later, she finished a frustrating 18thout of 24 competitors. In both seasons, she failed to record a personal best in the triple jump.
Even more, her junior season followed a stellar sophomore campaign in which she made both national meets and broke K-State's indoor record for the triple jump.
"I wasn't pleased," Lawrence said, matter of factly, of last season.
Her disappointment eventually became self-reflection. This, in turn, led to Lawrence holding the third-best triple jump mark(13.58m/44-6.75) in the country this season, as K-State heads into the Big 12 Indoor Championship this weekend in Lubbock, Texas.
Like the triple jump approach, Lawrence took many steps between that low feeling and where she stands at now as a senior.
The first one?
"I had to start from the mind," said Lawrence, who earned her first career Big 12 Athlete of the Week honor this season.
While she also improved her fitness through an enhanced cardio program, Lawrence said her "mental game" has taken on a completely different life in her last season.
One, she developed a daily routine she follows religiously — somewhat literally.
A native of St. Catherine, Jamaica, Lawrence said she reads her bible every morning, makes her bed and goes through a devotional each night. She also began watching a lot of motivational videos, mostly of TD Jakes, an influential leader and pastor of a megachurch in Dallas, Texas.
"He incorporates the bible with his speeches," she said, "and they really move me."
Additionally, Lawrence has picked up a passion for organization and punctuality. She said her events coach, K-State assistant Vincent Johnson, "beat that in my head" until those skills took hold. Lawrence quickly developed a habit of utilizing a planner to make sure she gets all her tasks accomplished and to places on time.
"It was a big change, a drastic change," Lawrence said. "It showed in training as well because I believe once you're organized then everything else can move smoothly."
Johnson even gave her a journal to track her workouts and performances. For each practice and performance, she has listed an aim and her actual result below it. After falling short of an intended mark early in the season, she said she learned quickly to list short-term goals before anything long term.
Since then, she's only charted her goals on a weekly basis.
"At the beginning of the season, I started doing that because I saw that I was ahead of myself. The first meet I expected to jump 13.4, and I realized I wasn't quite there because I hadn't jumped in a while. I had to climb the ladder," said Lawrence, who moved toward the short-term method after a quick Google search. "I read that I have to set short-term goals in order to reach the long-term goals. I was, like, 'That makes sense.' So, I started doing weekly instead of one year."
In terms of long-term goals, Lawrence said she has a couple for the few months left in her K-State career. To start, she said she wants to reach 14 meters in the triple jump, which would knock off another goal of breaking a school record — either the indoor one she already holds or top the outdoor mark (13.76m/45-1.75) set by Vanitta Kinard in 1997.
Still, she's focused on her long-term goals in a different way than the past.
"I want to take it one step at a time," Lawrence said, also hoping for a top-three finish at nationals. "I just have to be prepared on the day. Once I'm prepared on the day, I know I can produce great things for K-State."
Shardia Lawrence's junior season for K-State track and field, in her eyes, was beyond disappointing.
She failed to make the NCAA Indoor Championships, missing the cut by two centimeters. Even though she made the NCAA Outdoor Championships a few months later, she finished a frustrating 18thout of 24 competitors. In both seasons, she failed to record a personal best in the triple jump.
Even more, her junior season followed a stellar sophomore campaign in which she made both national meets and broke K-State's indoor record for the triple jump.
"I wasn't pleased," Lawrence said, matter of factly, of last season.
Her disappointment eventually became self-reflection. This, in turn, led to Lawrence holding the third-best triple jump mark(13.58m/44-6.75) in the country this season, as K-State heads into the Big 12 Indoor Championship this weekend in Lubbock, Texas.
Like the triple jump approach, Lawrence took many steps between that low feeling and where she stands at now as a senior.
The first one?
"I had to start from the mind," said Lawrence, who earned her first career Big 12 Athlete of the Week honor this season.
While she also improved her fitness through an enhanced cardio program, Lawrence said her "mental game" has taken on a completely different life in her last season.
One, she developed a daily routine she follows religiously — somewhat literally.
A native of St. Catherine, Jamaica, Lawrence said she reads her bible every morning, makes her bed and goes through a devotional each night. She also began watching a lot of motivational videos, mostly of TD Jakes, an influential leader and pastor of a megachurch in Dallas, Texas.
"He incorporates the bible with his speeches," she said, "and they really move me."
Additionally, Lawrence has picked up a passion for organization and punctuality. She said her events coach, K-State assistant Vincent Johnson, "beat that in my head" until those skills took hold. Lawrence quickly developed a habit of utilizing a planner to make sure she gets all her tasks accomplished and to places on time.
"It was a big change, a drastic change," Lawrence said. "It showed in training as well because I believe once you're organized then everything else can move smoothly."
Johnson even gave her a journal to track her workouts and performances. For each practice and performance, she has listed an aim and her actual result below it. After falling short of an intended mark early in the season, she said she learned quickly to list short-term goals before anything long term.
Since then, she's only charted her goals on a weekly basis.
"At the beginning of the season, I started doing that because I saw that I was ahead of myself. The first meet I expected to jump 13.4, and I realized I wasn't quite there because I hadn't jumped in a while. I had to climb the ladder," said Lawrence, who moved toward the short-term method after a quick Google search. "I read that I have to set short-term goals in order to reach the long-term goals. I was, like, 'That makes sense.' So, I started doing weekly instead of one year."
In terms of long-term goals, Lawrence said she has a couple for the few months left in her K-State career. To start, she said she wants to reach 14 meters in the triple jump, which would knock off another goal of breaking a school record — either the indoor one she already holds or top the outdoor mark (13.76m/45-1.75) set by Vanitta Kinard in 1997.
Still, she's focused on her long-term goals in a different way than the past.
"I want to take it one step at a time," Lawrence said, also hoping for a top-three finish at nationals. "I just have to be prepared on the day. Once I'm prepared on the day, I know I can produce great things for K-State."
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