PROVO -- Two hours before the long jump begins at the NCAA Indoor National Championships, Mindy Neeley, a sophomore from Santa Barbara California starts her warm-ups. The BYU Cougar had a breakout year and was beginning preparation for what would be her second best performance of the season, and her first All-American citation of her career.
"I am very excited," said Mindy after her seventh place performance. "I had a couple good jumps and I am thrilled to be an All-American."
Mindy came into the event ranked 12th in the nation in the long jump. She jumped a career best, 20 feet 6.50 inches, earlier this season, which earned her a trip to Fayetteville, Ark., for the NCAA Indoor National Championships.
Her first jump proved to be the seventh best jump of the meet at 20 feet 5.75 inches. Craig Poole, Mindy's long jump coach and head coach of the BYU women's track team, wishes he could have counted her second jump. It was a foul but looked to him to be around 21 feet. After that Mindy admits to being over cautious about the board and not as focused on her jump. Her performance however, gives hope and anticipation to her coach.
"Today was a great day for Mindy," Mountain Region Women's Coach of the Year, Poole said. "She has come a long ways, and her future looks very bright."
Two years ago Neeley's future didn't look like she had hoped. As a senior in high school, she had many suitors from Universities around the country: UCLA, Cal Poly, Harvard, LSU and more. She was close to making her decision, but had not heard from her 'dream school.'
"I was about a week from signing with UCLA, and then the coaches called me to go on a recruiting trip," recalled Mindy about her college selection process. "My parents really wanted it to be my decision. My mom probably wanted BYU, and my dad probably wanted UCLA. In the end it was my decision. I knew coach Poole was really good and respected his athletes. I wanted that, so I chose BYU."
Her mother, Leslie Neeley, remembers the experience well. She liked the recognition that Mindy was receiving from potential coaches. But she knew Mindy had long hoped to attend BYU.
"In seventh grade Mindy wrote a paper on her dream school. She wrote about BYU and wanted to go there. Then her senior year she was ready to go but hadn't heard anything from them. It was not that she was not good enough, but the coaches at BYU didn't know about her."
With the help of Mindy's uncle and a friend of Poole, word got to recruiters at BYU that one of California's best long jumpers was interested in coming to BYU. Shortly after they were introduced, Mindy had to choose where she would attend school. That was just the beginning of the adjustments she had to make to get to nationals.
In an interview with Jerry and Leslie Neeley they recounted the progress that Mindy has made during the past year.
"She has always been a gifted athlete, but she hasn't had to work at it," Leslie Neeley said. "Now that she is in college, she has had to work harder to be at the top. Last year was a really frustrating year for her. This is the first year she has really wanted it."
"The difference this year is that the fire is lit," said her father Jerry Neeley. "This year you can tell she really wants it."
"Now that she wants it, she has worked really hard to realize her dreams," added Leslie Neeley. "She said a few months ago, 'I want to go to the NCAA's,' and she has really pushed herself to get here."
Mindy accepted the challenge of being a top collegiate performer, knowing there would be a lot of sacrifices. Mindy describes her situation as a triangle of priorities.
"You have social life, academics, and track," Mindy explains. "To be successful you really have to choose only two. I am still looking for the balance in school. It's hard to get everything done during a regular week and even more difficult when I am at competitions."
Finding the balance is not a new concept for Mindy, though. She is used to striking a happy medium in order to obtain her goal.
"I have to 'cut my head off' when I compete," Mindy said. "That's what coach says. I try to be relaxed and focused, calm my nerves and still remain excited. When I have a good balance of the two, I do my best. When I compete, I zone out. I can't hear anything. If there are cameras, I block them out. If I am sick, I block it out. If I am hurt, I block it out."
The indoor season is over, but a bright outdoor season looms on the horizon for the newest BYU All-American.