Despite clipping the last hurdle and tumbling to the ground after crossing the finish line, senior hurdler Turquoise Thompson quickly got up and waved to the cheering crowd. It was the last home race of her UCLA career, and she had placed first.
This past weekend was also Thompson’s first time running her signature 400-meter hurdle this season, a premiere that Thompson hopes can set the tone for a successful senior year.
“This year my goals are set on winning the NCAA, making the U.S. Championship track meet and getting a contract with a major shoe company,” Thompson said.
While these goals set the bar extremely high, Thompson has come close the past two years, placing second twice at the NCAAs. Having coached her for the past four years, coach Jeanette Bolden said she believes that Thompson has what it takes to achieve all of her goals.
“I think she has everything right now for the making of a championship hurdler to continue the tradition we have here in the 400m hurdle,” Bolden said. “She’s on her way to doing that.”
While Thompson did not set a new personal record like many of her teammates did this weekend, assistant coach Johnny Gray said he knows that her season will progress differently than that of the younger athletes. While young athletes look to improve in speed, conditioning and technique each and every practice, veterans like Thompson are already at their best, and instead hope to make subtle improvements so as to peak at the right time.
“Once you become a veteran like Turquoise Thompson, then you kind of know that your season is geared towards NCAAs because you’re used to being there,” Gray said.
Despite having such high expectations for herself and from the coaches, Thompson has found a way to deal with all of it.
“I feel pressure to accomplish those goals,” Thompson said. “However, I take it one step at a time, one track meet at a time.”
And by not completely focusing on the end, Thompson can enjoy the last of four great seasons. Each season so far has ended in success for Thompson, who has earned All-American honors twice while at UCLA.
Along with second-place finishes for the 400m hurdle at the NCAAs the past two seasons, Thompson was Pac-10 champion her first two years at UCLA and runner-up in the Pac-12 her junior year.
With the conclusion of her collegiate journey in sight, Thompson still manages to live in the moment and enjoy the time she has left with the UCLA track team.
“It’s a bittersweet feeling,” Thompson said. “I’m ready to leave and enter the real world, but at the same time I’m going to miss my track atmosphere and my team bond.”