Neysia Howard was competing at the New Mexico Collegiate Classic last weekend when her teammate suggested she rile up the onlookers.
So the UA freshman clapped her hands and encouraged the crowd to follow her lead.
Seconds later, she darted down the runway in her lucky unicorn socks — the same pair she wears each time she does the long jump — and catapulted herself off the white line.
By the time she arose from the sand-pit, a smile on her face, Howard had a new career best. Her 5.84-meter jump is the standard by which Howard, a Tucson High graduate, will judge herself going forward.
Howard said she felt more calm than usual before the big leap.
“My dad told me I looked very relaxed,” said Howard, who will travel to Lubbock, Texas, with her teammates for this weekend’s Texas Tech Shootout. “I was obviously just having a good time.”
Howard’s been long-jumping since she was 9 years old. She’s just beginning to find her groove at the next level.
Howard has learned that so much of her performance is determined by her attitude leading up to an event. At times, Howard is locked in but feels overwhelmed by her own expectations. On other occasions, she feels like she’s not amped up enough or is distracted by things she can’t control.
“I’m still trying to figure that out, to be honest,” she said. “My dad likes to run mad, he calls it ‘the dog’ — like, you have to let the dog out — so I’ve tried running upset, but that’s just a lot of wasted energy. ... I’ve also tried running relaxed, but then I was running slower because I was too relaxed.”
Howard followed her father’s footsteps and enrolled at the UA. Tambotka Howard arrived on campus in 1993, but injuries and poor grades prevented him from making an impact on the track. Neysia Howard found herself equally excited to suit up for her hometown team once coach Fred Harvey came calling. Howard first started training with Harvey at age 8.
“Thinking about myself at another school just seemed forced, unnatural and just weird,” she said. “Arizona was of course my dream school. It’s in town and I was familiar with the track team.”
Howard’s decision-making process was also centered on her academics.
“Even more than (track), it was the astronomy program,” she said. “I’m a student first, and I wanted to go to the best astronomy program. Not anything prestigious, but Arizona was perfect because they have a good track team and good coaches that can actually help me get to where I want to go.”
Howard predominantly trained with the other sprinters during her first semester of college. It wasn’t until October that she started to divide her training time across her running and jumping events. She didn’t need long to get up to speed.
“Since I’ve been doing the same events for such a long time, I go through phases where maybe I’m favoring my longer sprints. ... Jumping has a special place in my heart because it’s not sprinting, its jumping, and it’s really important to me,” she said. “I wish in my bio it said sprinting and jumping, not just sprints.”
Now, Howard’s schedule is set. On Mondays, she works out with the sprinters. On Tuesdays, she joins the jumpers. On Wednesdays, athletes are given a day to recover, and on Thursdays she’s right back on the runway, refining any steps before takeoff.
“I love jumping just as much as I love sprinting,” she said. “It’s just different.”
Instead of stressing about her performance, Howard is trying to soak up the opportunities around her.
“A lot of times I forget to just look around and be like, ‘I’m here, I’m a D-I athlete.’ ... It’s something that such a small percentage of people get to become.”
Howard received the UA scholarship offer following a stellar career at Tucson High. She swept the Arizona State Championships as a senior, winning the 100, 200 and 4x100-meter relay. Howard also placed second in the long jump.
Howard’s dominant performance was fueled by a desire to gain the recognition she felt she deserved.
“Chandler’s a great school,” she said. “But everybody’s like ‘Chandler, Chandler, Chandler,’ all these girls from Chandler. I’m like ‘Hey, I’m tired of Chandler!’”
Howard knew her best chance to steal some of the spotlight from the girls at larger schools was to beat them head-to-head.
“I think really the only way to make myself known was to win at state,” she said.
Howard’s first-place trifecta last spring garnered statewide recognition, but it wasn’t a permanent solution to her problem.
“People overlook me,” she said. “I’m used to it, but when they stop doing that, it’ll be great. I’m so used to be people being like ‘Neysia Howard — who is that?’”
It’s only a matter of time before they find out.
