By Julian Lopez, Digital Communications Intern
When Jamol James participates in the Pac-12 and possibly the NCAA Championships in May and June, the stage will be small compared to his 2012 season.
The junior Sun Devil sprinter was a member of Trinidad & Tobago’s 2012 Olympic Track team and was an alternate for the 4X100 relay that won a bronze medal.
“The best part about making the team was actually making the team,” James said, “Everything felt good and unbelievable. My previous season wasn’t going well and I was just learning how to adapt to training.”
A native of Port of Spain, which is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago, James trained and rehabbed himself growing up because as he said, the coaches only focused on the top athletes and he was considered “fragile”.
After graduating high school, James enrolled at Tennessee and had a good 2012 season as he was named First-team USTFCCCA Outdoor All-American for his efforts on the Volunteers 4x100 relay team that finished sixth in the NCAA Championships. The high point of his 2012 season came in the Trinidad & Tobago Olympic Trials where he finished sixth in the 100 meter final with a personal best of 10.17.
James made the Olympic team and although he didn’t compete in the 4X100 relay, he was able to spend the summer in the Olympic village and receive some advice from some of the best runners in the world.
When he returned to Tennessee, the school had replaced their sprints coach and James was unhappy with the changes.
“The reason why I left was because the inconsistency of having a coach,” James said. “Time only helps a coach with an athlete. By switching coaches, it wasn’t helping me.”
So, after an injury-plagued 2014 season, James transferred to Arizona State because of the stability of the coaching and how the coaches treated their athletes.
In his first season with the team, James has the fastest 100 meter dash time on the team having run 10.47 on March 20 at the Baldy Castillo Invitational. But for someone that has ran 10.17, James is just trying to get back into shape after missing the 2014 season.
“I just want to run faster than I ran in 2013,” he said. “My real goal is to get back into competition mode. Every year is always the same goal, run faster than you ran the year before.”
After he finishes his Sun Devil career, James hopes to compete in the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.
“Everything I do, I always try to do to the best of my abilities so I won’t have any regrets in the future.”