byRBR Admin
Run, Jump, And Throw With Sharon Day-Monroe
Bright Future Ahead For AR Holder In Pentathlon
May 4, 2014
Achieving the pinnacle in track & field – or practically any athletic endeavor, for that matter – requires the critical ingredients of God-given talent, an unwavering work ethic, and a passionate and focused desire to succeed. And in our sport, a major metric of success is what an athlete can achieve every four years in the summer Olympic Games. As such, it is extremely rare that that an exceptional track & field performer – accomplished enough to make an Olympic team – would elect to shift focus to another event. But that is exactly what 
happened when 2008 Olympian Sharon Day [now Day-Monroe] decided to abandon her singular focus on the high jump and to redirect her energies into becoming a world-class multi-event performer.
In 2008, Sharon Day had a track & field year that would please nearly any athlete: the NCAA Div. I high jump runner-up made the U.S. Olympic team by clearing 1.81m / 6’3¼” to finish third at the Trials. In Beijing, she finished 12th in the qualifying round – not quite good enough to make the final. With the realization that clearances of 2.00m or better are routinely required to make the podium, Day knew it was time for some reflection and decision-making about the best direction for her track & field future.
The decision to transition from specializing in the high jump to becoming a multi athlete was not an impulsive shift nor particularly difficult this Olympian. “It just sort of evolved naturally,” Day-Monroe reveals. “I like doing more than just doing the high jump. I like doing the other stuff. I like having the variety. I found I was picking up these new events really quickly – and that was encouraging.” And the new multi-event athlete found out she could be very competitive, even while nursing an injury which hampered her best event. “In 2010, I really had troubling tendonitis in my left knee – the off leg for the high jump. My high jumping was not going as well as I usually do, but I was jumping OK,” she explains. “I was doing well in the other events and was still a really good heptathlete. But I wasn’t going to make a team in the high jump when I wasn’t high jumping all that well. So that was a big deciding factor as well.”
Jack Hoyt – Day-Monroe’s coach over the last 8 years – was more than simply open-minded about a possible change in his protégé’s direction. “We spoke about it. Jack was supportive,” offers Day-Monroe. “He knew I was interested in changing the focus. He was really excited about it.”
While Day had solid natural talent in virtually all of the multi components, refining elite performances in several relatively-new events takes time. Day was no exception. But before long, enhanced marks began to emerge. By 2010, Day was 3rd at the indoor nationals in the pentathlon [4467] and earned runner-up heptathlon honors [6006] in the USA outdoor championships. She was getting the hang of it. In 2011, she won the national heptathlon title [6058], made her second national team, and went on to place 17th [6043] in the World Championships in Daegu. In 2012 – an Olympic year – Day was the national championship heptathlon runner-up [6343] to Hyleas Fountain and placed 16th [6232] in the Olympic heptathlon in London.
Last year the Cal Poly athlete recaptured the national heptathlon crown [6550] and competed well in the World Championships in Moscow. “I was having a decent meet – I think I was in third place up until the long jump,” she explains. Could the young athlete – indeed 3rd after Day One – amass sufficient Day Two points to mount the podium? “I didn’t have a good long jump and I dropped down to 5th or 6th place,” Day-Monroe confesses. The American heptathlete – who did finish the competition in 6th place – knew her sub-par long jump performance snuffed out her chance for a medal. But she also knew she was on the right track.
Sharon Day-Monroe experienced a breakthrough – not unexpected – at the 2014 USA Indoor National Championship meet. It finally all came together in the one-day 5-event pentathlon. The two-time defending national pentathlon champion started smartly – skimming the 60H in 8.44 for 1030 points. In the second event – her specialty, the high jump – she cleared 1.88m / 6’2″ to win the event and to garner an additional 1080 points. Day-Monroe knew something special might be brewing when she PR’d in the shot put. Her second round bomb of 15.59m / 51’1¾” was good for 900 points and a three event total of 3010 points. “I knew that I still had to put a decent long jump out there so I wouldn’t have to try and run a crazy time in the 800,” Day-Monroe explains. “So I wasn’t that excited yet because the long jump is kind of my nemesis. So anything could happen there.” No worries. Day-Monroe popped her opening attempt out 6.09m / 19’11¾” to overcome her long jump hex. “I knew at that point I wouldn’t have to run crazy fast [in the 800] to break the record.”
Both coach and athlete maintained a business-like composure before the 800 meter run – the pentathlon’s final event. “After the long jump finished, I stopped to chat with Jack. I knew that I wouldn’t have to run super-fast,” Day-Monroe reveals. “So I asked my coach what I need to get the standard. He told me, ‘If you can run 2.17.00: new American record.’ And that’s what he left me with.”
Day-Monroe stayed in the moment. “I was thinking if I don’t get freaked out, I will have an American record,” she offers matter-of-factly. With an 800m PR of 2:09.30 Day-Monroe was able to think clearly about how she would address the final event. “I was pretty confident I could run that fast or faster,” she notes referencing the 2:17 time she would need to set the record. “I was actually more worried about avoiding disaster and getting tripped, or getting nudged, or falling down,” she confides. “Crazy things happen indoors with the tight traffic. That was what I was worried about – especially the break and getting into a comfortable position especially with the waterfall start. That can be really dangerous.”
Her decision to keep it simple was a good one. “My goal is always to hit 32-33 seconds per lap, per 200. It’s really helpful to know what the other people in front of you are running because you don’t have to think as much – just get into a rhythm and run,” Day-Monroe explains. ” It’s not as tough mentally. I could just sit on them, focus on their backs, and then just kick with 150 to go. I was a little bit worried about the altitude and dying at the end. I knew coming through after three laps that even if I died a little bit, I should run under 2:17 even if the altitude hit me or the bear jumped on my back,” she laughs. “I felt I could still get to the line on time.” Her last circuit was a coronation cruise as she hit the finish line in 2:13.19, bringing her 5-event total to 4805 – a new American record – and bettering the old national standard of 4753 held jointly by Dee Dee Nathan and Fountain.
Sharon Day-Monroe sensed a good performance might have been coming. “I really can’t say that I expected it. But it was definitely one of the things my coach and I talked about. And we were like if we’re just kinda rolling and everything is going right, we’re gonna keep going after the record” And with a laugh, sh
e adds, “And that’s what happened.”
In the World Indoor Championships in Poland, the new American record holder fell just 6 points short of the medal stand, finishing 4th – her highest placing in global competition. And her earlier AR point total of 4805 held up to finish as #2 on the world leader list – just 25 points behind the 2014 global best mark of 4830 posted by Netherland’s Nadine Broersen as she won the world indoor pentathlon title in Sopot.
The new AR holder is far from blasé about her place in the sport – she is looking to find more points. Where can she find them? “Definitely in the long jump. This year, I am definitely planning on jumping often,” she explains. “I think I can get my hurdle time down a little bit more. I think I can be more consistent with the shot put over 15 meters. In the 200, I think I could definitely run faster – under 24 seconds.”
What about future goals in the sport? “I definitely want a gold medal – in the world championships or the Olympics,” replies Day-Monroe without hesitation. “I think the gold medal is the ultimate goal.” A declaration like that just a few years ago might have seemed like a wishful dream without much foundation. But a review of Day-Monroe’s inexorable progress over recent seasons, her increasingly competitive performances on the world stages, and her realistic prospects to harvest more multi-event points does not rule out that such a vision could well become a reality.
There is a wise and venerable maxim that declares, “The road to success is lined with many convenient parking spaces.” Notwithstanding her impressive accomplishments in track & field, Sharon Day Monroe is not one to park now without vigorously exploring what may lie ahead for her further down the road. Is an Olympic multi-event medal just around the corner? Might it even be gold? While it is uncertain whether or not the new AR holder can ultimately achieve her dream of an Olympic gold medal in the heptathlon, one thing is clear: Don’t expect Sharon Day Monroe – inspired to drive further on the road success – to pull over any time soon.
~Dave Hunter
