Kaua‘i High School graduate and current University of Hawai‘i freshman Jamilee Jimenez was sitting in her hotel room with teammate Joy Saleapaga late Thursday night getting cornrows in her hair. “There are four of them going down the side,” she
Kaua‘i High School graduate and current University of Hawai‘i freshman Jamilee Jimenez was sitting in her hotel room with teammate Joy Saleapaga late Thursday night getting cornrows in her hair.
“There are four of them going down the side,” she said. “They’re on my left side. I just wanted to do something different.”
The former Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation record breaker turned Hawai‘i indoor track record breaker said she wasn’t getting those tight-knit braids in her hair for aerodynamic reasons, but simply because it’s easier to compete when her long hair is completely out of the way.
“My mom used to French braid my hair for my meets, and because she’s not here (in Washington), I just have these,” she said.
But, for Jimenez, who admitted she has always been somewhat superstitious before her meets, this might be a regular thing for her.
In the past, Jimenez has always needed to prepare for her meets the same way — listening to her music and slowly putting on her track spikes. It worked for her then as she holds three KIF records (long jump, high jump and as a member of the 2008 4×100 Relay team that also went).
She’s already broken one school record in her first season with the track team — she set a new school record for the 60 Meter Dash (7.93) at the Lumberjack Invitational — and if she continues on this path, she just may be sporting cornrows more often.
“Definitely,” she said. “If I keep winning, then yeah, I’m going to keep doing it.”
Today, she is entered in two events in the University of Washington Invitational: the 60 Meter Dash and the Long Jump. The weather is slightly overcast with the temperature in the 40s and none of that bothers her.
“It’s not too bad,” she said.
She is just happy to be there and a part of the select travel team. It was a feat she didn’t think she’d be able to accomplish in her first year.
“I was pretty excited,” she said. “I’m a freshman, I didn’t think I’d be traveling.”
Jimenez said she had a one-one-one meeting with coach Carmyn James and first learned she made the traveling team before the school’s winter break.
“She told me to keep working out and to not get out of shape because I made the traveling team,” she said. “After that, I just practiced harder because I wanted to let her know I was ready. I pushed myself harder because I knew I could easily replaced.”
She was one of 14 women who traveled to Flagstaff, Ariz. for the first meet.
Practices at the Division I level are at a much higher level than she’s accustomed to from high school, but Jimenez said it’s so far so good.
“We get a lot more attention from your coach. The (UH coaches) really want you to succeed,” she said.
In this indoor season, Jimenez is primarily in the two events. She said there is a possibility that might change for the spring outdoor season.
“At some point we have to face the reality that I’m just too short to do the high jump,” she said, also mentioning the possibility of her also doing the triple jump, the hurdles or other sprint races.
Jimenez is proud to be a part of a group of elite athletes from the island of Kaua‘i. Currently, Hawai‘i has five football players from Kaua‘i (Keala and Keahi Watson, Kenny Estes, Jett Jasper and Vaughn Meatoga), two tennis players (Crystine Ito and Dasha Lagmay), two soccer players (Mari Punzal and Tiffany Ikeda-Simao), a softball player (Jocelyn Enrique), a swimmer (Keenan Anaya) and a golfer (T.J. Kua).
Hawai‘i also has signed commitments from Kaua‘i seniors Trent Allianic to play baseball and Jessica Iwata for softball. Skye Shimabukuro verbally committed to Hawai‘i earlier this year.
That, Jimenez said makes her feel good.
“It gives us a sense of home,” she said. “We go out of our way to say ‘hi’ to each other. You feel like your in your own community; it’s Kaua‘i pride. We easily relate to each other, especially since there aren’t too many local people (on the athletic teams). Everybody’s foreign or from the Mainland. Even though we’re not that far from Kaua‘i, UH is a big deal.”
Jimenez and the team will return to the islands following the conclusion of this weekend’s UW Invitational.
There are two more indoor track meets before the Western Athletic Conference championships Feb. 26 to 28 in Boise, Idaho.
• Lanaly Cabalo, sports editor, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 237) or lcabalo@kauaipubco.com
