NEWS FLASH: MONIQUE RIDDICK OF
“Right now I am so excited. I came here hoping to win, but I wanted to throw my farthest and get a personal record. I went into my final throw with the mind set that this was it and I should give it my all. I thought that I had nothing to lose.” -- Monique Riddick
Event: NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships held March 14-15 at
Champions do their best when it means the most.
Montclair State’s Monique Riddick is a true champion.
After the preliminary round of the national championships, Monique was in ninth place.
With just one throw remaining, Monique was in “fifth or sixth” place.
When it meant the most -- on her last attempt -- Monique did her best throw EVER and beat her nearest competitor by over five inches to win the national championship!
Now here’s the most amazing fact: Last year at this time, Monique was in high school competing for Bishop Ahr in
Here’s part of an interview that I conducted with Monique on Monday . . .
RG: Who’s the first person you called to tell you won the nationals?
MR: I called my mom. She did not believe me. I told her I was really serious, but she still went on-line to check. She was shocked!
RG: Did you go to the nationals with the goal of becoming the national champion?
MR: It was in the back of my mind, but my goal was to throw as far as I could.
RG: How did you do it?
MR: You just have to want it. I wanted to throw my best. I had nothing to lose because I was a freshman. A lot of my competitors were seniors and it was their last time throwing. It’s all how you take it. If you’re going to show up and say, “I have to win this,” you’ll probably get stressed out. I was nervous, but it was the good type of nervous. It was the nervous that makes you throw farther.
RG: Did you ever have this “good type of nervous” before?
MR: Yes, I have. There have been some big decisions I’ve had to make. For example, picking the right college caused me to experience this good type of nervous. It forced me to dig deep and look inside myself and ask myself, “What do I really want? What am I really about?”
RG: Did you ever experience the “bad type” of nervous?
MR: I was at a track meet and my parents were there and I felt like I had to prove to them that I was good enough to compete in college. I very stressed out. I was beating myself up for throws that were really good, but in my eyes they were just horrible.
RG: Do you know how to change the bad type of nervous into the good type?
MR: I’ve learned to relax a little bit more and just realize that some days are going to be great and some aren’t.
RG: Where does your will to win come from?
MR: I’m a very determined person. I’ve also seen that my hard work is paying off. In the beginning I didn’t see it. Now I see that the work I’ve put in has gotten me this far. I want to work even harder so I can go even further.
RG: How do you get yourself to do what you don’t feel like doing?
MR: It’s hard, but I say to myself that there’s someone else out there who’s going to practice when they don’t want to and if I don’t do what they do -- they’ll beat me.
When I get to practice and start working out and see my teammates fighting through it -- they push me.
RG: Do you think you can be a four-time national champion?
MR: I know I can be, but on any given day it just takes one throw to win.
RG: Do you have Olympic aspirations?
MR: I feel that I have the work ethic and the determination. I know that it won’t be easy, but it will be amazing.
RG: Do you have a favorite motivational quote?
MR: Yes. There’s one from baseball great Willie Mays: “It isn’t hard to be good from time to time in sports. What’s tough is being good every day.”
