A Leader on the Track, Guevel Looks to Accomplish Even More in Senior Season

Senior track athlete and hurdler Jackie Guevel, even in her fourth year, looks forward to hitting the track at practice after a long day of academia at Carnegie Mellon University.

"Track is a huge stress reliever from demanding academic courses. Track practice provides an hour or two a day to hang out with friends, not think about school, and exercise," Guevel explained.

Guevel began running track in the seventh grade in Dallas, Texas.  She started hurdling early in her track career, an event that is intimidating to most young athletes.

"In middle school no one really wants to run hurdles, but because I was always tall for my age, the hurdles weren't as intimidating to me as they were to my peers," Guevel said.

Once Guevel hit high school, her coaches immediately saw her potential and had a lot of influence in her decision to continue running the hurdles at a collegiate level.

"They saw potential in me from an early age and challenged me to continue to raise the bar. Without them I don't think I would have considered running track in college," Guevel said.

In her first year of track and field at Carnegie Mellon, Guevel couldn't have asked for better success.  She was an All-American in the indoor 55-meter hurdles, the University Athletic Association (UAA) Indoor Rookie of the Year, UAA Most Outstanding Indoor Performer in Running, and set indoor school records in the 55-meter dash, 55-meter hurdles, and the distance medley relay. 

"My favorite indoor track thus far is The Armory in New York. It is different from most of the others with the stadium seating and names and times of famous athletes who have set records on the track," Guevel said.

Her outdoor season was equally as successful.  She attended outdoor nationals, earning All-America honors in the 100-meter hurdles and the 400-meter hurdles, becoming the first Tartan since 1992 to finish in the top eight in two events at the national meet.

"My favorite outdoor track thus far has to be Ohio Wesleyan. That's where nationals my freshman year were held and where I ran my fastest times to date," Guevel mentioned.

She was also named the UAA Outdoor Rookie of the Year, UAA Most Outstanding Outdoor Performer in Running, and set school records in the 100-meter hurdles, 400-meter hurdles, 4x100-meter relay, and 4x400-meter relay. Her UAA honors for both seasons marked the first time in UAA history a freshman was named both rookie of the year and most outstanding performer.

"I think freshman year was the easiest - I had nothing to lose," Guevel said of her early success.

Since her freshman year, Guevel has not lacked success by any means.  Her sophomore year she travelled back to the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships, where she earned All-America honors in the 60-meter hurdles while only an illness kept her out of the NCAA Outdoor Championships as she qualified to compete in both the 100-meter and 400-meter hurdles.  She also set school records in the 60-meter dash and the 60-meter hurdles.

Her junior year, she qualified for the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships, where she competed in the 100-meter hurdles and the 400-meter hurdles.  For someone who has accomplished so much in her collegiate career, her goal for this year is put simply.

"My goals as I begin my senior year are to better my times from freshman year, and to enjoy my last season as a collegiate athlete," Guevel said. "The most noticeable difference I see in myself from my first year is a tendency to overthink things. It is important to be aware of your races and your competitors to an extent, but as my high school coaches used to say, 'don't think, just run.'"

In order to prepare for her races, Guevel has learned the importance of consistency.  She does the same warm-up at practice each day that she does for her races.

"I always go through the same warm-up routine before a race. Consistency helps in making me less nervous," Guevel explained.

As her senior season is about to be underway, Guevel is looking forward to the potential the women's track program has this season.

"I feel great about our team! We have a number of incoming freshmen that I believe will be able to help us continue to improve upon our own personal bests. We work well together as a team and feel this year could be our strongest," Guevel said.

Having talented younger athletes on the team will help motivate and challenge each member of the program and Guevel is hoping to build some new favorite memories as a team.

"My favorite track meet was last year's UAA Indoor Championship meet. The women's team placed fourth overall, the highest we've placed at a championship meet in my time at Carnegie Mellon. Our women's 4x400-meter relay took third place - also a huge success for us," Guevel said.

This season she is looking to improve upon these numbers.  Being a track and field athlete has its challenges not only physically, but mentally.

"The biggest challenge about being a track and field athlete is the mental component. You can be in the best physical shape you've ever been in, but if you do not believe you can succeed, you won't," Guevel stated.

With such a positive attitude, Guevel is ready for the start of her senior track season at the Al Hall Freedom Games January 18, at Edinboro University.  She is set to graduate from Carnegie Mellon University in the spring of 2014. After graduation she will be working as a Cost Engineer for ExxonMobil.