FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Wednesday, April 13, 2016 By: Rio Frame, MSUB Media Relations Intern New Faces: MSUB track & field freshmen Shaniah Schwend and Janessa Williams
Two of MSUB’s most talented freshmen are already staking their claim by breaking school records as jumpers on the Yellowjackets’ track team. MSUB SPORTS – Beads of sweat drip down the face of budding Montana State University Billings track and field star Shaniah Schwend. Staring down the runway and into the well-manicured pit of sand that awaits her arrival, she knows she has three attempts to jump her way into the finals in the triple jump. Nerves flutter in the stomach of teammate and fellow jumper Janessa Williams, as she looks on in anticipation of Schwend’s takeoff from the wooden board. Schwend tries to calm herself down and prepare for her next leap. She hears her name being called. It is her turn. Williams offers a final word of encouragement. Plunging forward down the runway, Schwend streaks towards the sand pit at a record-setting pace. She drives forward with all the power she has, carrying hopes of making a mark that day that her competition will remember her by. This runway is where two of MSUB’s most talented freshmen, and the only two female jumpers on the Yellowjackets’ roster, continue to make leaps and bounds within the program and competition.
Schwend and Williams can be found cheering each other on, competing against one another, or helping each other leap, sprint, or jump to their personal bests every day and every meet. “I look up to my teammate Janessa because we both really help each other out during meets and practice,” noted Schwend. Williams and Schwend both came from small Montana towns, as Schwend grew up in Bridger, and Williams in Clancy. Now it seems like these two have known each other their entire lives. They work extremely well with each other, and are a pleasant pair for their entire team to be around. “I like Shaniah a lot,” commented Williams on the teammate she spends almost all of practice with every day. “I like that we can push each other.” Their first season with their new team included indoor lung and their outdoor season will probably bless them with rain, snow, sunburns, and wind burns. “I Shaniah Schwend. definitely like outdoor better because it is more in my comfort zone,” commented Schwend. Her teammate Williams agrees with her that the atmosphere of outdoor is exhilarating. The outdoor track atmosphere is not something that can be replicated, even in a top notch indoor facility. CHASING RECORDS Schwend started her outdoor season by breaking the school record in the triple jump. A feat that she is proud of because she has not been competing in that event very long and it was her personal best jump. However, this humble athlete just laughed when asked about her feelings on the record, noting that she had no doubt that Williams would take the record at their next meet. Williams did not disappoint. With the help of Schwend and assistant track coach Jonathan Woehl, Williams was able to make a jump of 36 feet, 6.75 inches, securing the record for that week. Her next track meet, Williams was able to capture the win in the triple jump. “I actually scratched two of my six jumps, and I felt really good on those jumps,” noted Williams. During the middle of competing in triple jump, Williams had to also run in the 4x100 meter relay, and the 100 meter hurdles. If her teammate would not have broken the record two weeks ago, Schwend would have done it again herself with her jump of 35 feet, 0.5 inches. Coach Woehl has had both jumpers focusing on a lot of technical portions of their jumping during the outdoor season, which seems to be literally propelling the young women forward as they continue to cover more ground and improve. “The stuff that coach has been having us focus on has really made a difference,” Williams noted.
Janessa Williams.
Williams and Schwend both found a love for competing at a young age. Schwend’s parents, Tara and Wes, were her coaches for a lot of the sports she was involved in growing up. They were even her track coaches during high school. “I pretty much grew up in the gym since my parents were coaches for everything,” reminisces Schwend. “Ever since around first grade I didn’t go to the last day of school because I would always be going with my parents to the state track
meet with the high school teams.” Schwend’s parents were both athletes growing up. Her dad even competed in high jump for a time at Montana State University in Bozeman. Williams attributes her love of track to her coaches that she had growing up. However, her parents definitely play a big part in her athletics, even if they weren’t her actual coaches. “My cross country coach in sixth grade got me first into running, but all my coaches have helped me continue to love the sport,” Williams noted while she thought about all the wonderful individuals that pushed her to where she is now.
Williams braces herself as she lands in the sand pit at the 2015-16 GNAC Indoor Championships in Idaho.
“My brother, Logan, was also a runner,” said Williams. “I always wanted to be like Logan. He ran so I wanted to run too. My parents have always pushed me and expected good things from me, but they never forced me into anything. They have been the most supportive people that I have ever had in my life.” Williams even remembered her mom’s initial worry that she would not really get involved in athletics, so she had her try out piano and drama. Williams was not always a jumper and sprinter. “I actually started out as a long distance runner,” remembered Williams. “I did cross country and the mile my freshman year of high school.” Each year after that her coaches continued to change around the events Williams competed in. She started doing triple jump, long jump, and the hurdles. The two athletes may have different backgrounds and previous experiences, but their love for their families and a close proximity to home led them to attend MSUB. “I really like being close to my family, which is important to me,” commented Schwend. The freshman seems to be flourishing in her new surroundings both academically and athletically. Schwend plans to earn her degree in elementary education. “When I was a senior I was an aid for a kindergarten class at my school, and at that point I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do, but I really enjoyed the experience,” stated Schwend about how she chose her major.
“I like that MSUB is smaller,” noted Williams on one of her reasons for choosing to attend MSUB. “Also with the track program, you get out what you put in, so athletics don’t completely consume all of my time, but they are still a competitive environment.” Williams is also an elementary education major, however, she does like the idea of possibly joining the occupational therapy program or going to veterinarian school upon graduating from MSUB. “One of my biggest sacrifices that I have made for track is probably food,” laughed Williams on the dietary restrictions associated with full-day track meets. Small comments like these help Williams keep her teammates smiling, and the pressure of being a collegiate athlete and full-time student a little more fun for all. COMING BACK STRONG Schwend’s sophomore and junior years attending and competing for Bridger High School were plagued with knee pain, bench time, and surgeries. She first tore her ACL and her meniscus in her knee her sophomore year while playing basketball. She missed her following track, volleyball, and basketball seasons while receiving surgery and going through rehab. She tried to get back into the swing of things again with volleyball her junior year, but fate was not so kind. “On the second day of practice I knew something was not right, so I went to the doctor who said I was fine,” remembered Schwend. “I just sat out for a month then tried playing again, which led the doctor to performing an exploratory surgery and he found out that I had torn my ACL again.”
Freshman Shaniah Schwend temporarily broke MSUB’s school record in the triple jump, until teammate Janessa Williams achieved the feat weeks later.
The ACL’s purpose is to prevent movement of the tibia off the femur and the hyperextension of the knee. In a lot of cases a person can continue a normal life if they tear their ACL, but for an athlete it leads to surgery and a couple months of recovery. Schwend opted for her second surgery on her knee so she once again missed her basketball and track seasons. “I kept going because of the fact that I only got two years of high school track, so I really wanted to make up for that,” Schwend commented when asked why she continued to pursue athletics after multiple injuries.
Schwend has a humble personality that has been built from her hard work, and the injuries that she has had to deal with. “I love her personality,” commented Williams. “She’s fun to be around. Even if we have a bad day at a meet or practice, she can still have fun.” In Schwend’s last meet she was able to jump 17 feet, 9 inches in the long jump, which is around a foot farther than her previous best and about three inches from the school record. After the meet Williams seemed almost more excited about Schwend’s personal best jump, than her own first-place finish in the triple jump. “I like that she doesn’t always come across as competitive, but she really is,” said Woehl. The first semester as a freshman trying to do both athletics and academics can be a learning curve, but both Williams and Schwend seem to be adjusting well to both. “I think I should have pushed my goals further during indoor, but with it being the first semester I was still figuring everything out. I’m not disappointed, but I could have done better,” said Williams.
However, Schwend’s first season as a collegiate athlete had its hardships and successes. “I had a few family deaths during indoor so I was pretty out of myself. It was rough, but my teammates were awesome and everyone was really supportive which helped me through everything,” said Schwend gratefully. Williams also credits her teammates with helping her get out of her ‘funk,’ as she calls it, when she has a bad jump or race. “Janessa is really consistent when she is competing, even when she doesn’t have her best day ever,” remarked Woehl. SETTING A NEW JUMPING STANDARD One of the meets that Schwend and Williams competed in was the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Indoor Championships in Nampa, Idaho this past February. “I had a blast, even though my marks were not what they should have been,” said Williams. “It was interesting.” “It wasn’t what I was expecting,” commented Schwend. “In high school a lot of people come to watch, but I felt like at conference it was just the other teams and a couple parents in the stands. The competition is crazy too.” Coach Woehl had only promising things to say about the duo. “I like Shaniah because she seems to pick things up pretty quickly,” noted Woehl. “When I explain a new concept, at first she’ll say that she doesn’t really understand what I am saying, but she’ll go out there and do exactly what I asked of her. I love working with her.” While Williams is unique in her dual-role of sprinter and jumper, she uses the two as counterbalances to clear her mind between events. “If I have a bad jump, all I want to do is a 400. I just want to have a gut race. But if I do well in jumping I don’t necessarily want to run that,” comments Williams when asked about the possibility of her joining a 400-meter hurdle race sometime during her track career.
Schwend (left) and Williams have already established themselves as two of the top jumpers to ever compete for the Yellowjackets in just their freshman seasons.
“Janessa is very coachable,” said Woehl. “With triple jump recently, we have been letting the ground come to her, rather than being impatient and straight legged.” Woehl noted that Williams had never really worked on anything as technical as that before, but she was able to really embrace all the new aspects of the triple jump. “It seems to be working for her,” Woehl commented on his athlete’s progress. “I’m hoping to see her jump in the 38-feet range in the next couple years in triple jump.” Schwend and Williams not only want to improve in between their jumps and races, but during all of their seasons. “I have my personal goals,” comments Williams on the specific times and jumps that she wants to achieve. “I want to focus on the 100-meter hurdles, and my relays since those are with my team.” Williams has competed in the triple jump, long jump, 100m hurdles, 200m dash, 4x100m relay, 4x400m relay, and the distance medley relay since joining the Yellowjacket family. Schwend has some goals of her own. “My goal is to just continue improving. I’m still not where I want to be in long jump so I want to do better in that.” She plans to try out high jump during one of her outdoor seasons as a Yellowjacket, which she did not do during her first indoor season. She will also be competing in the 200m, the 4x100m and 4x400m relays, as well as triple and long jump during this outdoor season. “Before indoor I had never run a 400 before, or a relay like the 4x400, but it was a cool new experience,” said Schwend. Athletics build character, responsibility, time management, work ethic, but most of all it builds friendships. Jesse Owens, a four-time track and field Olympic gold medalist once stated, “Friendships born on the field of athletic strife are the real gold of competition. Awards become corroded, friends gather no dust.” Williams and Schwend have formed a friendship through their mutual love of athletics. But long after they are done competing they will still have the friendship that they built through the time that they represented the yellow and blue of the Yellowjacket track and field family.
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