First time is a charm

For her efforts, Schields is the Daily Journal's Athlete of the Week.

"I'm anxious to go and I love competing under pressure situations," Schields said. "I haven't done anything like this before (competing in front of upwards of 15,000), and it's exciting just thinking about it."

Asked if she ever thought she would make it to Sacramento, the ultra-confident and highly competitive Schields said, "No, I had no idea." That's because the Notre Dame-Belmont High senior only started triple jumping four meets into this season. One day, Schields asked her coach if she could try the triple jump for fun, and she went over 34 feet on her first try. From the start, it was apparent that Schields had a natural talent for the hop, skip and jump. With an effortless grace on the runway, the 5-foot-11 Schields uses her athleticism, speed and strength to continually reach new marks. She went a personal-best 38-9 three weeks ago at the West Catholic Athletic League championships.

The Cal Poly-bound standout will continue jumping at the next level - "I never thought I'd be doing this in college," she said - and improve to the point where hopefully she'll be competing for an NCAA title. It took a while before Schields was able to find her niche, but she wouldn't change a thing. She played soccer in her first two years at Notre Dame, and didn't take up track and field until her junior year. Before the triple jump, Schields competed in the 100 meters, 200, 400, 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 relay teams.

It was gymnastics, however, that gave her the focus, discipline and mental toughness to become the athlete that she is today. Schields competed in gymnastics from ages 5 to 13, and during her summer workouts she would be training up to nine hours a day. During the school year, her load would be "reduced" to four hours a day, six days a week. She traveled the country and the world for various competitions, including a trip to China to train with its national team.

"That was an awesome experience," she said. "To see how the best in the world train and get things done was something I'll never forget. Gymnastics is so demanding, but it really built my character and taught me to use time-management. With all the different sports I've done, I'm happy with how everything turned out."

As a CIF scholar athlete, Schields takes plenty of pride in her schoolwork as she does on the runway. This week, as if she didn't have enough on her plate, Schields will be busy studying for final exams. On Friday, she hopes to pass the biggest test of all - to qualify for the state finals on Saturday.