Getting To Know Anna Cockrell

Coming off an incredible rookie season, sophomore hurdler and sprinter Anna Cockrell is prepared to break some more records this season. The All-American and team captain opened her first season as a Trojan by setting the freshman school record for the 400m hurdles and she certainly didn't stop there. She placed second in the 400m hurdles with a time of 55.54, was second in the 100m hurdles and was a part of USC's champion 4x400m relay at the Pac-12 Championships. She later earned Pac-12 Women's Freshman of the Year honors for her outstanding performances. She also finished second in the 400m hurdles at the NCAA Championships with a time of 55.36, a time that moved her to third on USC's all-time list for that event (later improved to 55.14 at the USA T&F Championships). She set another school freshman record at the NCAA Indoor Championships during the semifinals of the 60m hurdles with a time of 7.98. Cockrell is just as impressive in the classroom, earning a spot on the 2017 USTFCCCA All-Academic Team and the Dean's list in the Fall of 2016 and spring of 2017. Learn more about this sophomore on the rise on the track and in the classroom below.

Q: What inspired your decision to come to USC?

AC: I knew I wanted to go out of state just because we moved around a lot when I was growing up. I don't like to stay in one place for too long. I wanted to go somewhere that I haven't lived for a long time. I just went through the recruiting process and suddenly I was looking at two California schools and two Texas schools. I came on my visit here and everything felt right. It fell into place and I knew my parents would support me no matter what. I trusted coach Caryl Smith Gilbert and coach Quincy Watts a lot going this far away from home. It just all felt right.

Q: After an incredible freshman season, what were some of the lessons you gained from your first year?

AC: Patience. Patience was a big one just because coming into a new system, there's a lot of new things and the demand on your body increases even though I've done a lot of intense workouts with my high school coach. It's just really different when you come in to a collegiate environment and you've got girls who are All-Americans, were high school champions and are at the top of their game. Suddenly, here you are like a little baby freshman trying to fit in. Patience was a key one. Just taking time to understand the workouts, understand that I'm not going to win every rep in practice, and I'm probably going to lose way more than I win. I had some minor injuries going on throughout the season, so that was another thing where I had to take a step back, trust the process and trust that if I gave my body a break, I would be ready when the time came. Another one was independence. Being so far away from home and not having the backbone of my family to prop me up every time something little happened definitely taught me to stand on my own a little bit more. I learned a lot from Deanna Hill and Dior Hall especially, just about life in general and college.

Q: You were named one of the women tri-captains for the team. What does that title mean to you and how have you embraced the role?

AC: It means a lot. It means both the coaches and my teammates trust me. They trust me to set the tone for the team, to step in when I need to step in, to be a cheerleader, and to sometimes be harsh if I need to be, even though that's not really my style. I was really humbled and honored when I was announced as one of the captains, especially with it being my sophomore year and only having been here for a year. I think I have embraced it. At first it was a little bit awkward because there are girls on the team who are a lot older than me and I had to find my balance with them where I am the captain, but I also really respect that they've been here longer, been through more, and have more wisdom just by nature of being here for so long. I think at this point I have embraced it. There's still stuff I have to learn, so I really take cues from the other two captains Deanna Hill and Margaux Jones a lot. I really think about our captains from last year Amalie Iuel and Cameron Pettigrew a lot and how they handled things when I'm thinking about what approach I need to take.

Q: Your brother is currently playing in the NFL. What have you learned from having an older brother that's a professional athlete?

AC: Both of my siblings are athletes. My brother is with the New York Giants and my sister plays Division I volleyball at Davidson College. We were just constantly feeding off of each other throughout our childhood. We were always really competitive. We played basketball in the driveway and we always raced to the car whenever we went out. I just learned being competitive from my brother and my sister because that was really how we were from birth. Watching their journeys taught me a lot about things happening for a reason. My brother always says things happen for a reason. He wasn't highly recruited out of high school. He went to Duke, which at the time wasn't even remotely a football school, but he just knew Duke was where he was supposed to be, and that he was there for a reason and things would work out. His last two years things really started to fall into place and he got drafted. I think just trusting the process and trusting the universe's plan or whatever you want to call it. Also just trusting yourself and your instincts and really believing in yourself because both of my siblings were undersized for their positions. My sister is an outside hitter and for volleyball if you're under six feet, they're not giving you a second glance. Watching them go through that and knowing that they had the talent and the belief in themselves to play at the next level and to strive for greater things. I really learned a lot from them.

Q: How have you been able to find a balance between academics and athletics?

AC: School was something my parents always hit us really hard with from a very young age. It was all about giving your maximum effort in everything that you do, especially school. From when we were really young that was just second nature for us. It wasn't okay to come home with bad grades, and we weren't going to be punished or anything, but if you came home with bad grades you knew you could do better. That idea of always putting as much of myself into anything that I set my mind to has really stuck with me. My parents were always really heavy into school and that transferred into us. They always made us read a lot of books when we were little and we went to museums, which sometimes was really boring, but it really made a difference. I find the balance by remembering that I'm here for two purposes. I'm here to get my degree, to graduate and to set up the part of my life that will continue once track ends and I'm here to run as fast as I possibly can. When I'm on the track it's about track and when I'm off the track it's about going to class, doing my work on time and sleeping so I'm not running on fumes. Time management is a key piece of that. I always schedule out my day and I have a planner that I fill in religiously. I like to check off all my responsibilities and stuff like that.

Q: What are some of the athletic goals you are setting for yourself for this season?

AC: Oh gosh, I have a lot of goals! First and foremost, I want team titles. We have such a talented team and we were so close last year. I know that we can get that national championship. The team title is something I really want for both indoor and outdoor, especially outdoor because we have the depth and the talent to do it. We're known for the 4x4 at this point. We broke the indoor NCAA record and outdoor we were second, but we were still under the record. I was an alternate for both of those teams, so that was kind of mixed feelings about wanting to be in it, but still cheering on my teammates. This year I will be on it consistently. I just want to continue the tradition that's already been created with that excellence and winning. I really want to repeat with the indoor championship in the 4x4 and take that outdoor because that was a sore spot. Individually, I just want to improve on what I did last year. There's a lot of things for me to fix in both events, the 100m and 400m hurdles. Especially with 400m hurdles, I didn't quite have the base I wanted last year because of lingering injuries and having to sit out. I'm really looking forward to having a stronger base and I've been working really hard with coach Quincy Watts on developing that and fixing little technical things. There's so many little things I'm trying to fix in both events, with my hurdle form, my trail leg, getting my toes up. With my individual events instead of focusing on wins, I'm focusing on the things I need to fix in order to put myself in the best position to win.

Q: What's it like working with Olympic medalist coach Joanna Hayes?

AC: I love working with coach Hayes. My senior year of high school she was still at UCLA and she recruited me at UCLA. We developed a really good relationship, so telling her I wasn't going to go to UCLA and I was going to come here was really hard. But then, a month before I got to USC I found out that she's here now. That was the greatest thing ever and I cried when I got the news because I'm a crier for every emotion. But, I love working with coach Hayes. Just her experience with the event and with high pressure situations. She did both hurdles a lot in college, so having someone who was there and was at the highest level and reached the pinnacle of success, it means a lot because we can really pick her brain. When she tells us stuff, we know she's coming from a place of experience, wisdom, and maturity beyond what we have as athletes who are currently in the moment competing. That's really valuable to all of us. Even coach Watts, who I work with a lot too because I'm doing 400m hurdles and he is an Olympic gold medalist too. I get lots of knowledge and wisdom coming at me from all sides and I love it.

Q: Do you have any pre-competition rituals?

AC: I have a playlist that's filled with Nicki Minaj and Beyoncé, because I love Beyoncé. A little bit of Drake and 2 Chainz. I set it on shuffle, it doesn't have to be in a certain order. When I start getting ready for the meet, I turn on my playlist and dance in the mirror while I'm putting on my clothes and doing my hair. Just really hyping myself up from the time I'm getting ready, to on the bus, until I get to the track. Usually I will call my brother and my sister the night before the meet. One more is that usually my dad always comes to meet me before a meet and we have a little family handshake that we do before and after every race. That's a big part of it too.

Players Mentioned

Anna Cockrell

Dior Hall

Deanna Hill

Amalie Iuel

Margaux Jones

Cameron Pettigrew