By Joe Miegoc
Record Sports Writer
July 11, 2010

Lynn Mayer had plenty of motivation going into the Division II Track & Field Championships in May.

After earning All-American honors in both indoor and outdoor track in the high jump as a freshman, Mayer finished 15th last spring. Self-imposed pressure was her downfall and she wasn't going to let that happen again as a junior.

Mayer jumped 5-feet, 7-inches, tied for third and became just the second ESU track athlete to be a four-time All-American (Mayer tied for second in the indoor season; Karen Gaita is ESU's other four-time All-American).

Get know Mayer, how she prepared for the outdoor nationals, who she gets coaching from on her jumping, why she had a big decision after her freshman year at ESU and how she's attacking her offseason.

Let's start with the D-II championships this spring. You were an All-American in 2008, but finished 15th in 2009. How much motivation did that give you going into this year's meet?

MAYER: That was definitely disappointing because I was definitely trying too hard that year to make up for my freshman year. I really wanted to try hard and I didn't do well. My junior year I kind of just let things happen the way they're supposed to instead of forcing it.

Coming in off your freshman year did you feel pressure to match those results as a sophomore?

MAYER: Yeah, but just pressure from myself which I think was the downfall. I definitely wanted to repeat the same results so the pressure was from myself.

Once you know you're an All-American for a school-record tying fourth time, what is that feeling like?

MAYER: Excitement because that's what you go to the meet for. You go there to jump high and be an All-American. I went there and did what I wanted to do.

Karen Gaita, a former star and the only other four-time All-American at ESU, is one of the Warriors' coaches. Getting coached by someone of her stature, I imagine you soak up just about everything she has to say.

MAYER: She is excellent because in high school most kids don't have a coach specific to an event so when I came here it was kind of refreshing to have someone whose been a jumper and knows what it's like to go through the ups and downs. Then she's very technical and breaks everything down so you can really look and diagnose how a jump is supposed to be. Anything she says we all take in because she has the experience and she wants us to do well.

You had a pretty good high school career at Sayreville in New Jersey (three sectional titles in the high jump and three appearances in the Meet of Champions, with a best finish of third as a senior). How did you decide that ESU was where you wanted to continue your track career?

MAYER: I wanted to play soccer and do track so I just felt like after talking to the soccer coach and track coach that that would be something I would do and of course I know that they had a very good education program, which is my major, so they had everything that I needed in the academics and the two sports that I was interested in.

Do you still play soccer?

MAYER: No I stopped after my freshman year because I was doing so much better in track that I needed to put more focus into it. It was just way too much work for me.

So soccer was something that you had been playing since you were a little kid?

MAYER: Yeah, always.

That had to be tough to give up.

MAYER: It was very tough just because I realized that track was what I wanted to do and soccer was just something I was good at. I guess it kind of wound up being a hobby because I had been doing it for so long, but I knew where I really should have been was track.

Right off the bat you had a lot of success at ESU. Were you surprised at your early success or was it something you had expected of yourself?

MAYER: No, I was very surprised because I came in late because of the soccer season so I missed all the pre-training and preseason with the team and I didn't compete at all during the fall semester. I thought I'd be kind of getting used to things so when I did have the success I was very shocked but yet very excited.

I found that you have also had some success in the triple jump. You have the school record at your high school and you've had some good jumps at ESU, but it seems like high jump has been your main event.

MAYER: I had really bad shin splints and it wasn't good to keep doing (the triple) and even though my marks were good in high school they weren't as good in college and then because my shins hurt we just kind of decided to not do that to prevent injury. There's more pounding in the triple jump so once I did stop that my legs did feel a lot better.

Let's get away from the track. You were an Academic All-District second-team pick by ESPN the Magazine this spring. How important is an achievement like that?

MAYER: All student-athletes put in a lot of work for their sport and to academics so to get recognized for what you do outside of the sport is really cool.

Balancing school, soccer and track when you first came to ESU had to be tough.

MAYER: It was very tough. My grades weren't as good as they are now and my parents and I recognized that they weren't as good. To juggle all three was very difficult and it also came to the outcome that I had to quit one sport so that I could manage my academics and track.

Your major is elementary and special education. What made you decide that that was what you wanted to do with your life?

MAYER: That's just all I ever wanted to do. I didn't want to be a police officer. I didn't want to be a nurse. It was always, from what I can remember, that I wanted to be a teacher.

Back to track. What do you do during this offseason to get ready for your senior year when you can make a run at becoming ESU's first five-time All-American?

MAYER: I took a month off after the outdoor nationals because I didn't want to burn out. I just got back into training. I try not to think about all the ESU history because I don't want to add to my own pressure so I've been taking things slow, going to the gym and doing a few running exercises, but I don't really try to think about (being a five-time All-American) too much.

Is there an exercise that you really like to do or that you know is going to help you get the results you're looking for?

MAYER: Karen gives us a lot of hurdle drills so I love to do hurdle drills. On my own I like doing stairs, running the stadium, and doing certain jumps up and down the stadium. I can't really explain it, but I like to do stairs and hurdle drills.