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Freshmen have higher expectations in recent years, and the statement couldn't be more true for three members of Texas' women's track team as they prepare for the NCAA Outdoor Championships this week at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
Marshevet Hooker, Michelle Carter and Jerrika Chapple form the nucleus of coach Bev Kearney's freshman class, whose exam week runs Wednesday though Saturday.
As No. 2 Texas runs in a dead heat for the national championship with LSU and UCLA, it could come down to the freshmen. Combined with an outstanding corps of sprinters and hurdlers, the three freshmen add a dimension to the Texas team that has historically scored the majority of its points in sprints and hurdles.
Not only have the three freshmen competed all season to qualify for a combined six events between the trio, but their performances could be the difference in Texas' final point total at the championships.
However, competing at collegiate track's big dance is something they've been preparing for all season.
"We prepared the freshmen early, with every meet that we entered," Coach Kearney said. "Basically the season has prepared all of us - from training together, we become mentally ready."
Competing at Mike A. Myers Stadium with a full crowd will be nothing new to the freshmen. As native Texans, the three shined during the Texas Relays while in high school.
Marshevet Hooker won the Texas Relays 100-meter and long jump in 2002 while attending San Antonio Southwest and will compete in the same events this weekend. Known as "Vet" to her teammates, she will also run in the 4x100-meter relay.
"Marshevet is a big dog, she brings it every time we practice," senior Raasin McIntosh said.
Hooker finished third in the 100 to teammate Sanya Richards at the Big 12 meet and second in the long jump to Ineta Radivica. But with a seventh and eighth seed in her two events, Hooker is on the bubble of providing crucial points.
Shot-putter Michelle Carter enters one event in the championships, but it may have been the part she was born to play. As the daughter of SMU three-time national champion shot-putter Michael Carter, Michelle set two Texas Relays high school records that still stand despite sister D'Andra's best attempts at this year's relays.
Battling through the indoor and outdoor season with defending national champion Becky Breisch of Nebraska, Carter has peaked at an opportune time this season. The Longhorn finally out-distanced the Husker at the Mid-West Regional last week, throwing a personal-best 56-feet-7.5-inches. With a No. 5 seeding in the championships, Carter could become the second Longhorn ever to place in her event at nationals.
"It's been a long season, and I've been working hard the past two weeks," Carter said. "I was really glad to PR [record a personal record] and look forward to throwing again."
The last piece of the trio is Jerrika Chapple from Lancaster, who will run the 400-meter and the 4x400-meter relay. Chapple was instrumental as the third leg of the Texas 4x400 relay team that shattered the collegiate record in the final event of this year's Texas Relays. Running a sub-51 second leg, Chapple helped set the bar in the event at 3:23.75. After Raasin McIntosh passed LSU's second runner in the final turn, Chapple built a lead for Sanya Richards to finish with a new record, but her thoughts at the time were not on the record.
"I was thinking, 'Oh Lord, I can't let this girl pass me, I've got to keep this lead,'" she said. "Then I heard the crowd cheering, and I thought she was coming up on me.
"Then I realized they were cheering because I was doing good. I was worried there for a second."
With a No. 9 seed in the 400, Chapple will compete alongside Sanya Richards in the event. But like the rest of the freshmen, their high level of competitiveness has had only positive effects on the team.
"They've done an awesome job this year," Richards said. "We'll need some good luck this weekend, but if we're still in it by the 4x400, I know we're going to bring it."
Unlike a lot of teams, it could be the freshmen that help bring the title.
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