Colorado State University Athletics
Huddleston Achieveing Dreams
5/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | General
Dreams are the things that make the world go 'round. One person has one and strives to achieve it. With the achievement of it, many others see what one person has done and they decide that?s what they want, too. But they want to do it better. That?s how Amanda Huddleston, CSU triple jump school record holder and NCAA hopeful, started her career.
?I was watching the Barcelona Olympics and it looked like a lot of fun,? she said. ?Especially the long jump.? So Huddleston began her track and field career, while also spiking volleyballs and playing basketball.
?I wanted to do both volleyball and track,? she said. Huddleston, a Fort Collins native, traveled to the University of Northern Colorado, to visit the home of the Bears and hoped to continue to do both. But there was an underlying factor in her decision to become a Ram.
?I really like Fort Collins,? she said. ?I think it?s a great city and if I had to pick between the two sports then I would pick track, so it really came down to where I wanted to be. And the environment and atmosphere felt better here, plus the coaches there weren?t making as much of an effort. The CSU staff made me feel more welcome.?
In her first season as a Ram, the record board also welcomed Huddleston as she broke the triple jump mark of 40-0.75 to become the first Ram in history to break the 40-foot barrier.
?I was so excited that I had done it, but I knew that I could go farther," she said. After an injury plagued sophomore redshirt year, she proved that she could go further her junior season by setting the a new outdoor triple jump mark of 40-9.5.
Huddleston, now in her first senior season, owns both the indoor and outdoor triple jump records and has her eyes on doing even more. In the second meet of the outdoor season, Huddleston rewrote the record book again with a leap of 41-6, which was a regionally qualifying jump and currently ranks fifth in the region and 31st in the nation.
?I would like to continue jumping well,? she said. ?I want to go to nationals and I want to jump 42 or 43 if not further before I?m done.? Huddleston also has dreams of happily ever after as the 22-year-old was recently engaged in the third week of March and will be walking down the aisle to become Mrs. Timothy Miller on August 13 of this year. Only a few weeks before, she will enter her final season as a Ram.
?It?s going to be a new experience being Amanda Miller,? she said with a big grin on her face. ?But I am very excited about it.? Huddleston gives her experiences at CSU a little bit of credit for helping her mature.
?This whole experience, track and school, taught me life-long lessons like prioritizing, self-respect, leadership and built my character. Aspects that I think are important to life-long success,? she said. ?I feel like I have better focus in life, school and on the track.?
Her jumping coach, Tim Cawley, agrees that even though he has been here only two years that she has grown as an athlete.
?When I came here Amanda was beat up a little due to the injuries she sustained the year before,? he said. ?We had to regroup, but now she shows a mental toughness and her competitiveness has grown too.? Cawley believes that Huddleston's strength is her power and even though it has been a slow process, now she is showing consistency in the pit.
?She already jumped a regional mark and I have a pretty good idea of what she wants to do,? he said. ?She is an interesting challenge, but a pleasant one and I think that she is more then halfway there.?
by Katrice Thomas
Media Relations Intern
