Funk-d-fied
02-27-2007, 11:07 AM
http://www.newsobserver.com/1524/story/547209.html
Teen star sprints toward Olympics
Edward G. Robinson III, Staff Writer
Standing near the track, you can hear the whir, like a bicycle, when Gabby Mayo runs past.
She's that fast.
She will race you up the stairs, skipping two at a time to beat you. One day, she hopes to beat everyone and become one of the fastest sprinters and hurdlers ever.
"I am going to be the best in the world for the next few years or more," she said.
Mayo, a senior at Southeast Raleigh High School, has set her sights on the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. In August, she wants to compete in the world championships in Osaka, Japan.
To make those dreams come true, Mayo must navigate a long, uncertain road. As talented as she is -- she was the No. 1-ranked high school sprinter in the nation last year -- there are no guarantees of success as she tries to move from high school competition to college and the pros.
Between now and the Olympics, the 18-year-old will have to strengthen her 5-foot-6, 126-pound frame and change her diet to lay off the Bojangles'. She will have to tweak her technique and cope with tougher competition.
She will be asked to grow socially yet stay grounded in church and academics while competing in a sport damaged by links to steroids and other performance-enhancing substances.
Again and again, she will have to top an already impressive list of feats. Mayo will receive support from coaches and family members but will have to rely on intellect, savvy and speed to fulfill her promise.
"Gabby's potential is unlimited, if it's tapped the right way," said Mike Byrnes, co-founder of the National Scholastic Sports Foundation and an observer of track and field for nearly 50 years.
"Can she be another Marion Jones? That would be ridiculous to say yes or no. Who knows? But she's as close to it as anybody I've seen."
An early sign of speed
As a baby, Mayo would dash between her mom and her aunt, who would wait for her at opposite ends of a narrow hallway.
"She ran and ran and ran and ran," said her mother, Sandra Mayo.
It all began with those baby strides.
Treshell Mayo-Herndon, the aunt who stood in the hallway and later introduced Mayo to track in the seventh grade, said, "We laugh about it because it was a sign."
Mayo would become one of North Carolina's most acclaimed female high school track and field athletes ever. She would win 12 state championships and break six state records. Raleigh would proclaim Nov. 7, 2006, Gabrielle Mayo Day. She would earn the 2006 youth athlete of the year award from USA Track and Field and Track and Field News' top female high school honor.
Mayo showed her speed last year as a junior when she ran the nation's fastest 100- and 200-meter girls' high school times -- 11.16 seconds and 22.88 seconds.
For comparison, three-time Olympic gold medalist Marion Jones, who attended UNC-Chapel Hill, ran an 11.14-second 100 in high school. Four-time NCAA 100-meter champion Angela Williams owns the high school record of 11.11 seconds.
"I'm racing the clock, not people beside me," Mayo said in her soft voice.
Coaches keep her focused
Mayo has learned to dedicate herself to track the way John Coltrane devoted himself to music theory.
She trains six days a week at St. Augustine's College with Aunt Treshell, a former state champion and All-American sprinter at Clemson University, and a private coach, Stephen Hayes, who joined Team Mayo a year ago.
They work to keep Mayo focused because she admits she "hates practice" and would rather talk on the cell phone or get manicures at the mall. She welcomes any chance to break the monotony of training, striking a model pose or playfully swinging at Hayes. She got an iPod for Christmas and dances to the music of singer Ciara to ease the pain of sprints and squats.
-------------------
Daryle McNair congratulates his daughter, Gabby Mayo, for winning the 55-meter dash finals at an indoor high school meet last month at UNC-CH. In 2006, she was the USA Track and Field youth athlete of the year.
Staff Photos by Jason Arthurs
Gabby Mayo competes for Southeast Raleigh High School. Last year, she was the top- ranked high school sprinter in the nation.
---------------------
This season, she has practiced less often with her Southeast teammates and will run only in select high school events, maintaining a national race schedule that is designed to help her peak in the critical summer months.
Mayo enjoys the spotlight and glows after she wins. She flashes an electric smile.
"She has that look of a champion," said Jim Spier, director of the Nike Outdoor Nationals, who lives in Chapel Hill.
Mayo is fashion-conscious and chooses sleek-fitting outfits that give her a professional look. She prefers soft colors, especially her favorite pink. Away from the track, she dresses down in jeans or up in a skirt.
During indoor meets, she wears contacts; at outdoor events, gold-colored prescription sunglasses. Those often match her gold-colored spikes.
Sometimes Mayo's personality is as bright as her shoes. One moment she is engaging and the next silly.
At a recent workout, Hayes wanted Mayo to pull her knees higher as she ran.
"Lift more," he instructed.
"I declare war?" Mayo replied, twisting his words.
"I'm going to hit you with a rock," Hayes said.
"No, you're not," she said.
Yet Mayo is an introvert who confides mainly in her family and warms slowly to strangers. It is a natural instinct considering she is the oldest of 23 nieces and nephews and has nine doting aunts and uncles.
She looks for every opportunity to spend time with friends at basketball games and parties, although her track schedule precludes much down time. On free weekends, she works part time as a sales clerk at Triangle Town Center.
Liz Peartree Gary, an assistant coach at Southeast Raleigh, coached Mayo at North Garner Middle School. She talks about her pupil's innate competitiveness and stony presence at meets. But she knows a softer Mayo, one who baby-sits and asks for hugs at practice.
"That's the side people don't know," said Gary, who has used Mayo as a baby-sitter.
Gary said it is hard for outsiders, sometimes even teammates, to separate Mayo the athlete from Mayo the person.
At the N.C. High School Athletic Association 4A indoor championships this month, she mingled with Southeast teammates, yet during warm-up before the 55-meter dash, she high-stepped in silence. She captured a second consecutive title and tied her own state record (6.87 seconds).
Later, after Southeast Raleigh captured both the boys' and girls' state titles, she celebrated with the team, posed for a group picture and passed the state trophy to friends.
Still, Mayo says she must turn inward to concentrate on every phase of a race because so many people are watching.
"Last year, they weren't really looking at me," she said. "Now they really are. They're looking like, 'She better run good.' "
Nevertheless, she said, "I approach it as I'm here to run in my lane. ... I don't worry what anyone else says."
When outside voices intrude, she can rely on her family. She lives in North Raleigh with her mother, who manages the family's adult-care business. Mayo is close to her dad, Daryle McNair, a bus driver who lives in Garner.
Mayo, who has a 3.7 grade-point average, plans to attend Texas A&M University next fall. She'll study to become a doctor and will train with Pat Henry and Vince Anderson, veteran coaches with former Olympians on their resumes.
With a strong outdoor season, she might be tempted to turn professional, a possibility that draws even more attention.
"Everybody's talking about her," said Clayton High's star hurdler, Johnny Dutch. "When her race comes up, they want to see her. Even long- distance runners talk about her."
Big-time recruit today in TAMU womens track
There is not a Track forum and did not see a reference on the recruiting forums so letting you track and field folks know we just landed us a huge one.
Gig'em Gabby and Welcome to Aggieland!
_____________
Mayo chooses college
Star sprinter will attend Texas A&M
Edward G. Robinson III, Staff Writer
A day after she returned from collecting USA Track and Field's highest honor for a youth athlete, Southeast Raleigh High senior sprinter Gabby Mayo made her college choice official.
Mayo said Monday that she had accepted an athletics scholarship to attend Texas A&M next fall.
"I feel like I'm finishing up my year really strong," said Mayo, who traveled with her family to Indianapolis this past weekend to accept USATF's Youth Athlete of the Year award.
Mayo, who wants to become a pediatrician, made her choice after taking official visits to Southern California and Texas A&M. She said she chose the Aggies because the coaching staff made her feel comfortable.
She also liked the warm climate of Texas.
Sandra Mayo said the school was a good fit for her daughter because the coaches have expertise in the sprint and hurdle events. She also said the school offered strong academic programs.
Mayo, a multiple state champion and state record-holder, is preparing for the indoor season.
She had a tremendous indoor and outdoor track campaigns as a junior, securing national titles and winning gold and silver medals at the IAAF World Junior Championships in August in China.
Mayo said she wants to surpass all of her 2006 accomplishments in the new year.
"I'm excited because I want to see how much I will improve," she said.
Teen star sprints toward Olympics
Edward G. Robinson III, Staff Writer
Standing near the track, you can hear the whir, like a bicycle, when Gabby Mayo runs past.
She's that fast.
She will race you up the stairs, skipping two at a time to beat you. One day, she hopes to beat everyone and become one of the fastest sprinters and hurdlers ever.
"I am going to be the best in the world for the next few years or more," she said.
Mayo, a senior at Southeast Raleigh High School, has set her sights on the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. In August, she wants to compete in the world championships in Osaka, Japan.
To make those dreams come true, Mayo must navigate a long, uncertain road. As talented as she is -- she was the No. 1-ranked high school sprinter in the nation last year -- there are no guarantees of success as she tries to move from high school competition to college and the pros.
Between now and the Olympics, the 18-year-old will have to strengthen her 5-foot-6, 126-pound frame and change her diet to lay off the Bojangles'. She will have to tweak her technique and cope with tougher competition.
She will be asked to grow socially yet stay grounded in church and academics while competing in a sport damaged by links to steroids and other performance-enhancing substances.
Again and again, she will have to top an already impressive list of feats. Mayo will receive support from coaches and family members but will have to rely on intellect, savvy and speed to fulfill her promise.
"Gabby's potential is unlimited, if it's tapped the right way," said Mike Byrnes, co-founder of the National Scholastic Sports Foundation and an observer of track and field for nearly 50 years.
"Can she be another Marion Jones? That would be ridiculous to say yes or no. Who knows? But she's as close to it as anybody I've seen."
An early sign of speed
As a baby, Mayo would dash between her mom and her aunt, who would wait for her at opposite ends of a narrow hallway.
"She ran and ran and ran and ran," said her mother, Sandra Mayo.
It all began with those baby strides.
Treshell Mayo-Herndon, the aunt who stood in the hallway and later introduced Mayo to track in the seventh grade, said, "We laugh about it because it was a sign."
Mayo would become one of North Carolina's most acclaimed female high school track and field athletes ever. She would win 12 state championships and break six state records. Raleigh would proclaim Nov. 7, 2006, Gabrielle Mayo Day. She would earn the 2006 youth athlete of the year award from USA Track and Field and Track and Field News' top female high school honor.
Mayo showed her speed last year as a junior when she ran the nation's fastest 100- and 200-meter girls' high school times -- 11.16 seconds and 22.88 seconds.
For comparison, three-time Olympic gold medalist Marion Jones, who attended UNC-Chapel Hill, ran an 11.14-second 100 in high school. Four-time NCAA 100-meter champion Angela Williams owns the high school record of 11.11 seconds.
"I'm racing the clock, not people beside me," Mayo said in her soft voice.
Coaches keep her focused
Mayo has learned to dedicate herself to track the way John Coltrane devoted himself to music theory.
She trains six days a week at St. Augustine's College with Aunt Treshell, a former state champion and All-American sprinter at Clemson University, and a private coach, Stephen Hayes, who joined Team Mayo a year ago.
They work to keep Mayo focused because she admits she "hates practice" and would rather talk on the cell phone or get manicures at the mall. She welcomes any chance to break the monotony of training, striking a model pose or playfully swinging at Hayes. She got an iPod for Christmas and dances to the music of singer Ciara to ease the pain of sprints and squats.
-------------------
Daryle McNair congratulates his daughter, Gabby Mayo, for winning the 55-meter dash finals at an indoor high school meet last month at UNC-CH. In 2006, she was the USA Track and Field youth athlete of the year.
Staff Photos by Jason Arthurs
Gabby Mayo competes for Southeast Raleigh High School. Last year, she was the top- ranked high school sprinter in the nation.
---------------------
This season, she has practiced less often with her Southeast teammates and will run only in select high school events, maintaining a national race schedule that is designed to help her peak in the critical summer months.
Mayo enjoys the spotlight and glows after she wins. She flashes an electric smile.
"She has that look of a champion," said Jim Spier, director of the Nike Outdoor Nationals, who lives in Chapel Hill.
Mayo is fashion-conscious and chooses sleek-fitting outfits that give her a professional look. She prefers soft colors, especially her favorite pink. Away from the track, she dresses down in jeans or up in a skirt.
During indoor meets, she wears contacts; at outdoor events, gold-colored prescription sunglasses. Those often match her gold-colored spikes.
Sometimes Mayo's personality is as bright as her shoes. One moment she is engaging and the next silly.
At a recent workout, Hayes wanted Mayo to pull her knees higher as she ran.
"Lift more," he instructed.
"I declare war?" Mayo replied, twisting his words.
"I'm going to hit you with a rock," Hayes said.
"No, you're not," she said.
Yet Mayo is an introvert who confides mainly in her family and warms slowly to strangers. It is a natural instinct considering she is the oldest of 23 nieces and nephews and has nine doting aunts and uncles.
She looks for every opportunity to spend time with friends at basketball games and parties, although her track schedule precludes much down time. On free weekends, she works part time as a sales clerk at Triangle Town Center.
Liz Peartree Gary, an assistant coach at Southeast Raleigh, coached Mayo at North Garner Middle School. She talks about her pupil's innate competitiveness and stony presence at meets. But she knows a softer Mayo, one who baby-sits and asks for hugs at practice.
"That's the side people don't know," said Gary, who has used Mayo as a baby-sitter.
Gary said it is hard for outsiders, sometimes even teammates, to separate Mayo the athlete from Mayo the person.
At the N.C. High School Athletic Association 4A indoor championships this month, she mingled with Southeast teammates, yet during warm-up before the 55-meter dash, she high-stepped in silence. She captured a second consecutive title and tied her own state record (6.87 seconds).
Later, after Southeast Raleigh captured both the boys' and girls' state titles, she celebrated with the team, posed for a group picture and passed the state trophy to friends.
Still, Mayo says she must turn inward to concentrate on every phase of a race because so many people are watching.
"Last year, they weren't really looking at me," she said. "Now they really are. They're looking like, 'She better run good.' "
Nevertheless, she said, "I approach it as I'm here to run in my lane. ... I don't worry what anyone else says."
When outside voices intrude, she can rely on her family. She lives in North Raleigh with her mother, who manages the family's adult-care business. Mayo is close to her dad, Daryle McNair, a bus driver who lives in Garner.
Mayo, who has a 3.7 grade-point average, plans to attend Texas A&M University next fall. She'll study to become a doctor and will train with Pat Henry and Vince Anderson, veteran coaches with former Olympians on their resumes.
With a strong outdoor season, she might be tempted to turn professional, a possibility that draws even more attention.
"Everybody's talking about her," said Clayton High's star hurdler, Johnny Dutch. "When her race comes up, they want to see her. Even long- distance runners talk about her."
Big-time recruit today in TAMU womens track
There is not a Track forum and did not see a reference on the recruiting forums so letting you track and field folks know we just landed us a huge one.
Gig'em Gabby and Welcome to Aggieland!
_____________
Mayo chooses college
Star sprinter will attend Texas A&M
Edward G. Robinson III, Staff Writer
A day after she returned from collecting USA Track and Field's highest honor for a youth athlete, Southeast Raleigh High senior sprinter Gabby Mayo made her college choice official.
Mayo said Monday that she had accepted an athletics scholarship to attend Texas A&M next fall.
"I feel like I'm finishing up my year really strong," said Mayo, who traveled with her family to Indianapolis this past weekend to accept USATF's Youth Athlete of the Year award.
Mayo, who wants to become a pediatrician, made her choice after taking official visits to Southern California and Texas A&M. She said she chose the Aggies because the coaching staff made her feel comfortable.
She also liked the warm climate of Texas.
Sandra Mayo said the school was a good fit for her daughter because the coaches have expertise in the sprint and hurdle events. She also said the school offered strong academic programs.
Mayo, a multiple state champion and state record-holder, is preparing for the indoor season.
She had a tremendous indoor and outdoor track campaigns as a junior, securing national titles and winning gold and silver medals at the IAAF World Junior Championships in August in China.
Mayo said she wants to surpass all of her 2006 accomplishments in the new year.
"I'm excited because I want to see how much I will improve," she said.