My path was not planned as a research project. It started with basketball, then the weight room, track, injury, and countless questions that popped up during this journey.
I have played basketball since elementary school. But after my first basketball season in high school, I realized that to play at the next level, I had to be much more athletic than I was at the time. My approach vertical was roughly 70 cm, and my squat was around 40 kg. At that point, I simply focused on how to train consistently.
After lifting consistently for almost a year, I focused heavily on lower-body workouts. I began to see how patient, repeated work could change performance. My early estimates were not precise, so I now use the fall 2025 case for the strength and jump numbers.
Getting stronger was no longer the only goal. I shifted my training toward more speed and power work, including plyometrics (depth jumps, pogos, bounds, hurdle hops, seated jumps, and kneeling jumps), to learn how to use strength quickly. I had overestimated my jump height at the time, so I no longer use that estimate as a measured milestone.
I still wanted to play basketball, but my wrist kept getting injured. During strength and conditioning in my junior year, I ran an electronically timed 4.60-second 40-yard dash, placing second on the varsity basketball team. That result made me think I might have a future in sprinting. With my wrist injuries continuing to get in the way of basketball, I decided to shift my focus to track.
My junior-year track season was the first one I trained for seriously. Before that, I had participated without putting much focus into training. I opened the season with a 12.30-second official 100m, then injured my PCL later that season. With senior year approaching, I worried that the injury would affect my performance and my chances of being recruited as a college sprinter. After months of rehabilitation, I returned with more attention to my weaker areas. I felt that my posterior chain was weaker than my anterior chain, so I added more work for those muscles.
My latest official 100m personal best is 11.45. I am proud of the improvement, but I do not see one race as the end of the story. I will continue my journey as a student-athlete and keep working toward my ultimate goal of becoming a collegiate athlete.
Sport made me care about progress. Recording the process taught me the science behind it.