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PHOTO BY BEN MILLER

HUNTER

Athlete Spotlight: Danielle Hunter

By Ben Miller

Tacoma Weekly: When did you start doing track?

Danielle Hunter: I started running in elementary school – like around fourth grade, I’d say. I don’t know why I started. I started running because I saw my sister run, and she ran track so I was always on the sideline like, ‘oh, I bet I could win.’ So I wanted to get into the sport.

TW: What races do you run?

DH: I run the 800, the 1,600 and the four-by-four relay.

TW: What is your favorite race?

DH: The 800. The 800 is just two quick laps and you get it done. That’s just my middle distance.

TW: What other sports do you play?

DH: I run cross country in the fall and I play girls basketball in the winter. I like running, mostly. Cross country I like, because I run by myself – you have a team but you’re by yourself competing. But track is my favorite sport.

TW: Why track?

DH: I just like running. Cross country is long distance – and I run long distances in track – but cross country is on paths and not on the track so much. In track I get to run the 800 and that’s two fast laps, and I like running fast.

TW: What are your strengths as a runner?

DH: I’d say I’m determined to get the job done. Sometimes when I get beat in a race, I work hard and I come back and I have the person who beat me, and I’m just determined to beat them. I’m determined to get my time down every time I run – though, this year they’re not as good as last year.

TW: What is one thing you are really trying to improve on?

DH: My self-confidence. I doubt myself a lot. I think that runners are faster than I am, I doubt my talent. I’ve been doing it ever since I entered high school.

TW: What have you been trying to do different to improve on that?

DH: It’s better than what it used to be. I just come to practice every day and I just try to stay focused…And when I race I just try to tell myself that I’m good, I’m supposed to be here, I’ve got the times to run with everybody.

TW: Have you thought about what you want to do after high school?

DH: I want to attend Eastern Washington University. I want to go into pre-med or I want to go into sports medicine. It’s because I want to be a trainer – I just want to be around sports. When I graduate from college, I know I want to be around sports.

TW: What do you do when you are not running?

DH: I’m in church most of the time. Sometimes I hang out with my friends, but most the time I’m at church or I’m at home. Just on the phone or on the computer.

TW: What frustrates you most when you are out there running?

DH: Getting boxed in. In the 800, there can be so many girls. Last week, on Friday, there were like 20 girls, and when you start off too slow, you get boxed in. Girls are behind you, on the side of you and in front of you and you can’t move around them or anything. So you are just stuck there. That frustrates me.

TW: Who inspires you?

DH: My parents. My dad (Daniel), he encourages me all the time, he keeps me focused.

TW: What has been your favorite moment running?

DH: My favorite moment was when I go to State in the sports. I went to State in cross country, State in basketball and State in track. But my favorite moment was last year at the State track when I took fourth in the 800. It was my first time going to State in any sport and I did better than what I expected to do.

TW: What is it about State that makes it so exciting?

DH: You get there and you get to see the competition, the top runners in the state, you get to run with them. It helps me because I know when I go to college, it helps me experience the times and the pace of the races so when I go off to college I know what to expect.

TW: What has been your toughest moment running?

DH: This cross country season, I injured my groin, and it set me back. I didn’t run in any of the preseason meets and I came back right at Narrows League. It was hard for me to compete and do better than what I did in my junior year because of my groin.

TW: How has your coach helped you?

DH: Coach Berwold, he helps me out a lot. He’s a good coach. He has been coaching me since ninth grade and he tells me the main things to do in track and cross country. Also my basketball coach, coach (Calvin) McHenry, he’s also a good coach too. He keeps me focused on my schoolwork and he helps me out, like if I need a job, he helps me find a job and everything.

TW: Is your track team close?

DH: Oh yeah, our team has always been good since my freshman year. It’s like everybody split up into different sections, like the sprinters work out and the distance people work out and the boy sprinters and the hurdlers and the throwers. We’re close, though, like when we travel. We play games and everything when we’re on the bus. At practices, we all practice and work hard.

TW: What do you do to get ready for a big race?

DH: I go to sleep early the day before. I pray and I think about the race. I visualize the race in my head. That’s it.

TW: What do you want to be remembered for?

DH: When I leave Mount Tahoma, I want to be remembered for being a good middle distance runner and being a good team person.

TW: What is the most important thing you have learned playing sports?

DH: I’ll have to say to make sure you keep your grades up because it helps out. For me, I had trouble with my grades and I had to sit out some track meets and some basketball games. That’s an important thing, to keep your grades up so you can better yourself through education after high school.

TW: What gets you pumped up for a race?

DH: I talk to my dad before each race, and he just tells me like, ‘you’re supposed to be here, you’re a good runner, you can beat these girls when you’re running.’ He just helps me visualize me winning the race and running it and that just helps me get really hyped for the race.

TW: What is your favorite movie?

DH: “Street Kings.” I just saw that recently. I haven’t seen a good movie in a long time, and that was a good movie. I don’t know why, but I was really into it.

TW: Do you have a favorite TV show?

DH: “America’s Next Top Model.” I like it because my mom always tells me I could be on it, but I don’t know if I’ll ever get a chance to. But I like watching it and seeing all the poses that the girls do and everything.

TW: What is your favorite book?

DH: “The Coldest Winter Ever.” It’s about this girl who is from Harlem and her dad was a drug dealer or something. It shows how she came out to be better than her parents. She came out to be rich and everything, even though her mom and her dad and her living situation was bad, she still came out to be good.

TW: What is your favorite kind of music?

DH: Oh, R&B and rap and hip hop. Lil Wayne. I just like his raps. People be like he’s overrated, but I like him.

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