Photo Credit: Tiffany Luu
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Freshman reaches new heights

Photo Credit: Tiffany Luu
Photo Credit: Tiffany Luu

The sun hits Sundevil Stadium as the procession of track and field athletes head up the stairs into the bleachers. Among the MC athletes is freshman Kimmy McPherson, a soccer player and a member in the coveted group known as “Jump Squad.” Even as a freshman, McPherson has been noticed both by peers and coaches as a player to watch. Currently, McPherson participates in high jump, as well as 300m hurdles. However, earlier in the year, she was not as certain on whether or not this spring sport would be for her.

“I didn’t think that I was going to join at first, but I’m really glad that I made the decision to,” McPherson said. “I was thinking about it and I was thinking how fun it would be if I joined. I knew that I could just try out and if I didn’t like it, then I could quit, but I didn’t want to.”

Amidst the reasons why McPherson decided to join was out of consideration of her participation in another sport – soccer. In the winter, she was on the MC freshman soccer team.

“I wanted to stay in shape,” McPherson said. “I knew that I probably wouldn’t have been able to motivate myself to do it, so I thought that it’d be good to have an alternate sport.”

However, though soccer motivated her to participate, the members on Jump Squad convinced her to stay, especially some of her older team members. Team bonding and unique t-shirts played crucial components into her experience as a jumper and a hurdler.

“I just like how laid back it is,” McPherson said. “I like the people who do it and being able to get new heights and push myself. Practices are really fun with that group of people. The juniors Veena [Bobba] and Sara [Vandenburgh] are really nice and inspirational.”

Looking forward, McPherson hopes to break five feet in high jump and run under 50 seconds for 300m hurdles, which she believes her coach will help her reach.

“Coach Stan is really nice and understanding,” McPherson said. “He encourages you to push yourself, try new techniques, and do whatever it takes to get a new [personal record].”

Outside of practice and conditioning, McPherson attributes some of her success to one pair of socks.

“They’re just black socks,” McPherson said. “I wore them for the first meet, so I just continue doing that. [I’ve] never missed a meet, not so far.”

Written by Chloe Jiang

Chloe Jiang is a senior and a co-editor-in-chief of The Sun, a tea aficionado, a La Jolla Cove frequenter, a grammar snob, and an advocate for gender equality. Among her favorite words are bougie and trite.

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