When Ponte Vedra?s Nicole Greene started messing around with the high jump during middle school, little did she know the path that would emerge from it led to dominance in the state and a shot at making her name in the national arena. With three years of varsity experience, two state titles and another pair of track seasons still to come, the budding star has shown all the tools necessary for a long, successful career in the sport.
Greene, the St. Johns County St. Augustine Record Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year, keeps toying with her competition to this day.
?It?s definitely not something I expected to happen; I was quite surprised at first,? Greene said. ?I really love it now. It took me by surprise.?
As a sixth-grader at Episcopal, Greene participated in the more fashionable events ? 100-meter dash, 200 and 4x100 relay. The high jump started as an attempt at filling idle time during track practice late in seventh grade. Then a coach saw her clearing 5 feet with ease without any idea of what she was doing, and after that, sprints became an afterthought.
Her first appearance at the state meets resulted in a second-place finish in Class 2A as an eighth-grader.
After transferring her freshman year to Ponte Vedra for the school?s Academy of Biotechnology and Medical Research (both her parents are doctors and Greene hopes to follow suit), she found immediate success with the Sharks on the track, winning her first Class 3A championship with a height of 5-6.
Though her state win this year came at a height of 5-5, it was on a rainy and windy day the University of North Florida that hurt times and heights across the board.
Greene hit 5-10 consistently this season, putting her eighth nationally in 2013. At the New Balance Nationals Outdoor held on Sunday, she took third.
As her control of the state continues, Greene has shifted her focus to her future. Some colleges have already made their interest known, but are unable to make an honest recruitment until her junior year.
That list includes UCLA, Louisville, Mississippi and Miami. Despite her career potential in track, Greene still looks for a school with a strong medical program ? that?s why Miami would be a nice fit and schools like North Carolina, University of Pennsylvania and Stanford round out her top choices.
But until colleges can make their recruitments in earnest, Greene is focusing on continuing her development.
She added a personal coach last year, Harold Rose, who won a state title as part of Wolfson?s 2005 championship team before later attending Bethune-Cookman on a track scholarship. He?s worked with Bartram Trail in the past, helping their team win its first track state title.
With Greene, what sets her apart in Rose?s eyes ? other than the natural talent ? is her demeanor.
She brings an intelligence and maturity to her practices not common for kids still without a driver?s license.
In his second year as her coach, Rose is more focused on refining technique than wholesale changes.
?Right now she just has to focus on enjoying the competition,? Rose said. ?She?s at a point where she?s still learning (high jump).?
Though the goal couldn?t be any simpler ? raise a bar, jump over it without knocking it over ? making the leap from regionally good to nationally dominant takes much more than physical prowess.
Understanding how the body travels and arches through the air is as important as the leg strength needed to clear the bar. Learning from what distance to start the jump and when to curl your body up and over may be a difference of inches, but for Greene?s purposes those inches often determine success and failure.
One day, she hopes, those inches will be the difference in medal color.
Though it?s still far away, the 2016 and 2020 Olympics are still in the back of Greene?s mind with each training session.
Heights of 5-10 and higher were the minimum to make the Olympic Trials for last year?s London games, a height that she?s been able to hit consistently all year.
By the end of the summer, Rose wants Greene to be clearing the 6-foot mark consistently, something she can already do occasionally during practice. By the end of her junior track season, the goal will be 6-2.
For contrast, 30-year-old Russian Anna Chicherova took gold in the high jump last year with a height of 2.05 meters (just over 6-7). At 16, Greene has already eclipsed the 6-foot mark in practice sessions while still physically maturing into an adult.
What can be measured by a squat rack isn?t the reason for Greene?s success as of yet. Luckily for her, it?s also not what she depends upon.
The strength will come with time and training. It?ll be joined with ever-deepening knowledge of the details in such a surface-simple event.
?Nicole?s a joy to work with; she?s so cerebral,? Rose said. ?At this point, watching her grow is a joy. There?s so much upside to her once she understands the intricacies of the event.?
Rose still believes that adding 1.5 to 2 inches every year is still a realistic short-term goal for Greene, certainly when considering her natural gift for the sport paired with the work ethic and intelligence shown so far.
?Right now, it?s more a matter of when I take off and get in the air,? Greene said. ?It?s the little details that help you get over 6 feet, but after that it gets a little easier.?
Nothing feels out of the question for Greene by the time she finishes her senior year in 2015. She?s surpassed the need to prove herself in the state of Florida.
Improving is now a self-maintaining goal. It always is with any track competition, but the heights possible in Greene?s career are only now beginning to come in view.
?(Greene) had ?it? when I first saw her,? Rose said. ?She enjoys learning the event and being competitive. The Olympics are something that she wants to accomplish, and with her work ethic and ability, I can?t see why that couldn?t happen.?
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