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THE INTERVIEW WITH SHEMIAH BROOKS
Southwest Guilford, senior, indoor track & field

Shemiah Brooks, 17, was the state runner up in the triple jump (37-7¾) and fifth in the long jump (16-10) at the 4-A state winter track & field meet last season. She also placed runner up in the triple jump as a sophomore. Brooks has committed to Clemson.

Q: When did you first get into track & field, and why did you stick with it?
A: I started track when I was 10 years old and then I quit because they told me I couldn’t eat certain foods. My mom was really mad about it because she paid money for me to run AAU track and so she made me do it next year. I really wasn’t up to where everyone else was. … By ninth grade everything was just kind of clicking.

Q: You’ve excelled at the triple jump and the long jump, but what’s your favorite event?
A: They’re both my favorite. I honestly would say that triple is my favorite. Then this past year everything started clicking with long jump as well. And I’ve started hurdles.

Q: Why did you start doing hurdles this season?
A: I started my very first year doing track I started hurdles, and I fell, so I’m like, I can’t do this, so I quit. Every year I would start off in practice with the hurdles, but I would never stick with it because the fear of falling would come across my mind. But this past year my coach made me. He had me at long hurdles and then I stopped long hurdles because I liked short hurdles. Those long hurdles are a killer.

Q: What does it take to excel at the hurdles?
A: A lot of technique. You have to know all the basics to hurdles and master trail and leap leg, where your arms need to be … hurdles are a very technical thing.

Q: What was it like finishing runner up in the triple jump last season? Were you happy with the result?
A: I was very angry with the result. I know I could have done better, but like my mom told me, you can’t win them all. My sophomore year I placed second in states in triple jump also. I’ve just got to work harder than I usually do. I have to constantly push myself to work as hard as I can.

Q: What are your expectations for yourself this season?
A: For triple jump, I want to get 40 feet and possibly 41 for outdoor season. But it’s a process and I have to take it one step at a time. … I’m sure it will all come together within the next three weeks here.

Q: How do you get prepared to compete in a big event?
A: I try to get my body and my legs as loose as possible. I try to keep myself warm at all times. Lately, I’ve been trying to balance out what I do in the weight room to what I do on the field, because I don’t want to work out in weight training and not have energy left for the field.

Q: Do you have any superstitions or any routines that you follow?
A: Not technically. One thing I’ve always went by is when I got second in triple jump last year, I had this saying: “To work is to want and to want is to work.” So that’s pretty much what I go by. I thought of it myself. I wanted to win states but I also had to realize I had to work for it.

Q: What does it take to compete at such a high level? What do you do to train?
A: I try to do as much conditioning on my own time as much as possible. I do my best to balance out jumping and hurdles, also. Keeping my legs strong, keeping my body healthy, not killing yourself in practice every day. You just have to push yourself to work at what you do and work on technique. … As soon as I’m done with school track I concentrate on AAU.

Q: You’re the manager for the Southwest boys basketball team. How did you get involved with that, and why do it?
A: For one, I’m really close with the coach. I started managing last year and I honestly can say with track, I don’t have a lot of time to balance out everything I’d like to do. I also do one club and I’m in student council, but it’s really hard. I like the game of basketball and I was planning on playing this year, but realized I really needed to focus on track. … Being around the players, the relationship I had when I was a player, I treat all the players like they were my brothers and they treat me like a sister.

Q: Why did you stop playing basketball?
A: I had to realize that basketball wasn’t going to get me … I had to think about my future, and it wasn’t going to get me to school.

Q: What are your plans for college?
A: I’m verbally committed to Clemson University, since probably like a month ago. I had the top three schools that I really wanted to go to, and I never really got to go on my visit to Alabama. It was down to Clemson and Auburn. The decision was really hard. … I liked Auburn a lot but I based what I felt about the school off their academics and how I felt when I was with the team. The way I felt with Auburn is I got the same vibe as I did with Clemson, but the thing that triggered me not really liking it is it took everyone a while to warm up to everyone. And I know two people who go to Auburn. But other than those two, it took me a really long time to click with the others on the team. But when I went to Clemson, I felt like I was already on the team, but just didn’t have a uniform. I really loved the love I got from the team at Clemson.

Q: What’s something interesting about you that most people don’t know?
A: I love to sing, dance and cook. I love to sing anything that has a good flow of music. I love music. … And my mom is a singer and it’s what she loves to do. She sings at like church, and she’s always around the house singing. Southwest used to offer dance class, but they stopped my sophomore year. They cut the dance class my sophomore year and it really hurt my heart, because I always liked to dance at home, but dance at Southwest made me look at all the modern type dances and different varieties.

Q: Do you have any pets?
A: No, I don’t have any pets. I’ve had fish. I don’t really do pets. I don’t care for animals at all. Fish aren’t very fun. They just kind of sit there. I killed the very first fish we got. I fed them the whole bottle of food and came back home from school and they were dead. I was probably like 7 years old.

Q: What bothers you more than anything else?
A: People who constantly lie. I guess you could say boys. Boys will be boys. I don’t really deal with them too much now. I’m just focused on school now. I don’t really have time for all the extras. I’m focused on getting to school and being where I want to be.

Q: What do you enjoy doing in your spare time, other than track?
A: I love to eat and sleep.