Breaking Redondo’s track and field record for both the 100 and 200 meter sprints, senior Journey Cole emerges as California’s number one ranked sprinter. Despite this success, Cole wasn’t always confident she would do well in California. Moving back from Washington, where she spent the past two years, Cole knew she’d face new challenges having faster girls to compete with.
“I’m usually so hard on myself. If I don’t run a good 50 meters at practice, I immediately want to be done. Of course, I still do it, but I’ve struggled a lot with the negative talk. Even at track meets, a mental challenge is avoiding the thinking of ‘she’s really fast, so I know I’m not going to beat her’ because I don’t want to be preparing to lose,” Cole said.
In between races, Cole transitions through different drills, speed work and endurance workouts to help her keep improving her times and fix her running form.
“It took me nine years to find the right technique. I’ve been told I’m leaning forward too much, back too much, and just now, at almost 18, I was finally able to fix it,” Cole said. “Everybody likes to say, ‘don’t think too much,’ especially when you’re sprinting. But thinking is what you have to do most. If it wasn’t for me thinking in my races, I wouldn’t be able to correct my form.”
For Cole, balancing life with being California’s number one sprinter hasn’t been much different to her previous years of running.
“I’m very humble about it, I don’t like to tell people unless they ask about it. For me, it isn’t about the fact that I’m number one. It’s just the fact that I was able to run that time after being held back for so long, knowing that I could run faster but not seeing those results come in. I’m really proud of myself because I know I’m supposed to be running that fast. I could be California’s number 15 and still be happy if it meant reaching the times that I’ve worked for,” Cole said.
Senior Hailey Gavin-Wences has felt the positive impact that Cole has brought to the team. When experiencing her own troubles during races, Cole offered her the encouragement she needed to keep pushing forward.
“She has supported me through both the physical and mental challenges of track. Some people may think of it as just running, but it takes a toll on your mental side too,” Gavin-Wences said.“She’s helped me understand that there will be meets where I do absolutely amazing and others where I won’t get the outcome I want, and that’s okay. I need to use those races to help drive me to PR in the next one, using it to my advantage.”
In order to stay focused on her running, Cole has emphasized running for herself rather than others’ expectations. Her efforts are driven by focusing on doing the best she can.
“Even with reaching my times, I still feel the need to keep pushing for more because I want to see consistency. If I only hit those times once, there’s no point. I’m already committed to a college [North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University] and I’m so blessed for that experience, but my coaches want me to also try out for the U20, so that might be a goal in the future. As of right now, I just want to have fun with my running and not put too much pressure on it,” Cole said.
Mental preparation has been crucial for Cole, seeing how it affected her at the Nike Indoor Nationals, where she felt she performed poorly due to the mental pressure and giving in to the negative thoughts.
“I was supposed to be one of the top girls, I knew everybody was looking for me, I had a college coach there too. In my head, I got so nervous that there were all these big competition girls and I ended up doing horrible, worst race of the season, all because I was lacking a good mentality. Being positive is such an important thing to me because without it, I wouldn’t be able to do what I’m doing now,” Cole said.
Cole’s hard work and balance with life has inspired Gavin-Wences to be intentional about the way she trains through this track season.
“Seeing how hard she pushes herself but also focuses on staying healthy has all motivated me to do the same,” Gavin-Wences said. ”I want to work hard and keep getting better but I’ve grown to understand that if my body’s telling me I shouldn’t run, then I know to listen and give it the break it needs.”
As a freshman, Cole was inspired by her former teammate, Eve Divinity, (class of 2022). One of Divinity’s last messages to Cole before graduating was asking her to break her PRs [personal records] which held the current school records. Similarly, Cole has passed on her own bits of knowledge to her younger teammates, wanting them to be successful as well.
“The main advice I have to give is to have fun. At the end of the day, it’s a sport. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself, don’t let anyone’s expectations mess you up, and put the negative thoughts away,” Cole said. “Yes, you’re supposed to take it seriously, but enjoy the process. Take care of yourself and have fun, that’s what track’s about”