Sports Exploration: Reliving Angel Gazaway's Journey to a State Championship

Angel Gazaway is a hurdler at Eastern Michigan University. Back in 2018, she became a state champion in Ohio as a high school hurdler. In the following feature she shares her journey from the bottom to the top of her sport on the high school level.

Winners Only: How did you become a hurdler?

Angel Gazaway: Well back in fifth grade, AAU track I use to watch the hurdlers at practice and I thought I could do it since I was already fast. I wanted a challenge and I absolutely loved it from the first practice and first fall

Okay. That is where I was going. The falling. It seems like falling is inevitable. How did you become okay with that so quickly ?

At first it was a little frustrating but my mom was so supportive even though she was scared, she would tell me, “It’s okay to fall and be upset for a moment but it’s how you pick yourself up afterwards to drive forward.” I really just used that every time I fell. Every fall drove me to try again harder.

Do you remember your first win? Tell me about it.

My first win was in middle school running the 200-meter hurdles. I knew I was fast but extremely nervous, my friends of course hyped me up so I wasn’t as nervous. But once I set my blocks I remember just taking a breath and relaxing. And everything else was a blur until I crossed the line. When I saw that I won and that my time was really good I was too excited

You competed in high school at Princeton in Cincinnati, Ohio. Tell me about that school's legacy in track and field. Were you excited to compete there when you were a freshman?

Well that’s funny, I actually enjoyed all three years but I enjoyed senior year the most solely because I had a coach that knew what I was capable of and took a chance on me. Freshman year I was excited to run because I love track, but unfortunately the coaches played favoritism and they tried to say I was junior varsity, even though I was faster than most of there varsity seniors.

I stuck with it because I loved to hurdle and run and I knew I was fast. They put me on varsity when one of the seniors injured her ankle and they needed a [1,600-meter relay] leg. I had the fastest spilt and I quickly became the person to rely on from the coaches. From doing 100 hurdles which I hated because I didn’t really understand the rhythm for it, to [800-meter relay], to 300-meter hurdles to [1,600-meter relay].

My junior year I didn’t even have a hurdle coach so I had to coach myself. And my focus was just on the 300 hurdles. I had gotten fifth at the district meet every time and I wasn’t going to allow that to happen again. I was the only one on the team doing good and predicted to go to state. Unfortunately that didn’t happen because the coach I had at the time did not know how to teach me the proper techniques on how to win in the 300-meter hurdles.

That's when Coach Darren Braddix saw me race and he said it was the most terrible 300m-meter hurdle race he’s seen, but he saw the potential in me and knew that I was different, but just needed the right coaching .

He was right. Senior year it was a complete 360, I went from getting 5th at the districts meet for the past 3 years to winning the meet and winning state that year. Just having a coach that was truly invested in me and wanted to see me succeed and my teammates were the best teammates I could ask for. It was the first time at Princeton that the women’s track team didn’t have any drama and we all got along. The first time I actually had friends and teammates, and not just teammates

Well it is cool that you made the most of things until you got a good coach. You became a state champion. Tell me what the feeling going into that race was like and what was going through your mind throughout the race until you finished.

So I actually was pissed because we dropped the baton in the 800-meter relay, which was right before. Also, one of the other runners had the best lane, which was the lane I was suppose to be in. I wasn’t nervous, I was angry and I wanted my lane and I wished we didn’t drop the baton. When the gun went off I knew I had the fastest time in the race, but there was still a girl that my coach told me was close to my times so she was my competition.

The only thing that was going through my mind was finish with everything. And when I found out I won I was overwhelmed with emotion. I fought so hard for this for three years and it was happening. I looked at my time and was shocked I ran that fast. Then the lactic acid kicked in, so I was in the ground rolling around trying not to scream.

How did life change once you became a state champ? Had you already committed to Eastern Michigan?

Immediately afterwards I got questioned by the newspaper, and when the meet was over I had a line of coaches wanting to talk to me. I was told to wait until after New Balance Nationals to commit to a school, so I could take some visits and really decide which school was the best fit. I was sold on another school at one point but once I stepped foot on Eastern Michigan’s campus my intuition said this is where I belong. I instantly knew I was going to sign to EMU before we even did the tour of the campus or met with the team or anything.

What made you choose EMU?

I chose EMU because I had a feeling as soon as I stepped on campus that this is where I am meant to be. I was ready to sign the National Letter of Intent at the end of my visit. I liked that the head coach is female, and how the other coaches were invested in their athletes.

What are your goals for the remainder of your college career? What will it take for you to make them real?

My goals are to finish with a high GPA, to give each day my all, to have a strong finish at the end of the 400-meter hurdles and to continue to stay on top of my mental health. I just have to study more, keep giving all I got at practice, training more volume based running and to keep doing things for me.