Mackenzie Frank - Jasmine Moore - 4x400
North Texas Cheetah- Head Coach Orlando McDaniel
pictured above is Head Coach Orlando McDaniel
In 2014, your girls 4x4 set the 11-12 JO meet record as well as the national record running 3:55.54. What did the win and the record mean to you?
I never saw it coming. We had been pretty close to breaking the 4x1 record a few times that year, and I thought we might have had a chance at the meet. However, we were disqualified in the prelims. The 4x4 record came out of nowhere. As for what it meant to me, I’m just really happy for the girls. It gave me an opportunity to be a part of a second setting tea. Once as a high school athlete in 1978, and this one.
3 of the 4 girls from the national record setting team return this year; this time, in the 13-14 age group. How did it feel going into the season knowing the success you had last year with these individuals?
As a coaching staff, we felt extremely optimistic having that type of experience moving into the 13-14 age group, and it has proven to pay off so far.
In the prelims, your 13-14 4x4 broke the 13-14 region 12 record running 3:54.68. In the finals they came back and broke the record that they just set running 3:54.16. Going into the meet was the goal to break the record?
Our focus is never on breaking records; honestly, it’s about doing our best
What are your goals for the 4x4 as they enter nationals?
Our goal for national is to run a clean race in the prelims, make it to the finals, and run our best time.
Jasmine Moore broke the National record in the girls’ 13-14 Triple jump. Her jump of 12.08m broke a 16 year old national record. Was her breaking that record a surprise to you?
It definitely wasn’t a surprise to me or to Kenny Roseman, our jumps coach. Kenny heads up our jumps program and has really done an outstanding job adding the jumps as a bonafide dimension of North Texas Cheetahs and its development of Track and Field Athletes. Additionally, she broke the record previously in the competition and in the association meet. However; there was not a wind guide present for the jumps at the meet.
She broke the record on her second jump and passed on her last two jumps (5th and 6th). Was there any reason why she passed these two jumps?
Kenny felt that she had done a lot of events over the weekend and she still have two final events left. Due to that, he thought it was best to shut her down after some big jumps. That decision really paid off because Jasmine is going to the JR Olympics in 4 events.
Now that she has the national record, has her training changed at all.
Kenny says her training has remained the same. They have been doing more speed work & bounding drills to improve her technique. He and Jasmine reevaluated her goals for the year and her new long jump goal is 20’00” and her Triple Jump goal is 40’0”
What are your team goals for the national meet?
Our team goal for the national meet is just a like any other meet. We want to do our absolute best in every event. At the end of the day where ever our very bests takes us we will accept it.
Are there any special things that you are doing in practice to achieve these goals?
As far as doing special things, our workout program remains on track, and we are continuing to improve based on our latest performances. Additionally, the biggest boost we have gotten from former lady cheetahs that stop by with words of encouragement.