Getting To Know Takiya Cenci

After breaking high school records in the 400m, 200m, 4x100m, and 4x400m, and placing top three at Brooks PR and New Balance Nationals in the 400m, freshman Takiya Cenci shares her love for the sport and external interests and aspirations.

Q: How'd you first get involved with track?

T.C.: When I was in the third grade my PE coach saw me running at an after school program and came up to me saying that I should come out and try the running team. I told him I would talk to my mom, I did and she suggested that I should try it out. I joined the cross country team in third grade running against fourth graders and did really well. After that, I did track and did really well too, and I kind of just kept going. I had two undefeated seasons in cross country.

Q: Did you do cross country in high school too?

T.C.: I did it in middle school. Once I hit high school I just did not want to do long distance anymore. Once it hit three miles I was thinking, no thank you I'm good.

Q: What are some of the things that you like to do outside of track?

T.C.: I really like to read books a lot. It's a really big thing of mine. I think this year I've read around 45 books. My goal was 75, not going to get there, but I really like reading. Submerging myself into something else that's not the outside world allows me to focus on other things. So yeah, I really like reading a lot.

Q: What were some of your favorite books that you've read this year?

T.C.: I think The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo was a book that I read and I really, really liked a lot and Verity is another that I enjoyed, too. I really like mystery books and Verity is one of the mysteries that I really enjoyed.

Q: What are things here in LA that you like to do?

T.C.: I like to shop a lot. I've been to the Grove a little bit too many times, but honestly, I just like going there with my team and just going to the mall. Even if no one buys anything it's still fun to just get away from campus and just look around stores and see new people and different things. I think that's one of the things i really like about L.A. is that there's so many different styles and people that even just walking around the mall you can see that. I like walking around the mall and the kind of people watching and seeing everyone's cool fits and things like that.

Q: If you didn't run track, is there a sport you think you'd play? Did you play other sports along side of track?

T.C.: I kind of did everything in middle school. I played badminton, soccer, basketball and volleyball. If I did something else I'd probably play soccer because when I did play I liked it a lot. I played it competitively for about a year and I really wanted to do it. I stopped playing because I loved running so I continued with that.

Q: What would you say your main support system has been for you?
T.C.: I'd definitely say all of my family, but mainly my mom just because she was there from the get-go when I started running and she's been to all of my meets. She's been my main support system period, but I think with running she just really believed in me a lot and that's something I took and ran with. Especially coming here; I was really stuck with recruiting and wasn't sure where I was going to go. My mom had a lot of faith in me, that I was going to make it, and when I got offered here we were really excited. She's just always had faith in me which was and is a really big thing for me.

Q: What solidified that USC is the school for you on your visit?

T.C.: I think this was always the school that I wanted to come to. A girl on my team previously who was a couple years older than me was really good and she came here, and ever since that day I've been like "Oh I really want to go and run at USC". Also I think when you look at the legacy and the atmosphere here it makes it easy. I mean they build champions and I wanted to be a part of a team that had good people and people that were better than me so I can get better. I think that was definitely a huge factor for me. I wanted to get better and I wanted to have coaches that wanted to help me get better. And with what I saw here, I knew that that's what I'd have.

Q: Have you met your biggest sports hero Allyson Felix yet? Why is she your biggest hero?

T.C.: No, I haven't met her yet, sadly, but chances are I'll probably meet her here at some point, so I'm hoping for that. After she had her baby, pushed out her brand, and after Nike dropped her, I think that was a big inspiration for me as a woman, not even as an athlete. If people don't like what you do or are not approving of what you can do, you can go out there and still be successful and go out there and run in the Olympics after having a baby. She did it all and I think that was a very inspirational moment for me. If she can do it all I can do it all. Nike drops her and she goes out and starts her own business. She has a baby and people tell her she can't run. She goes and runs in the Olympics. Her mindset of "Okay, if people aren't going to accept me and believe in me, I'm just going to go out there and make them believe it" is what really solidified her as my hero.

Q: What's been some of the biggest challenges you've faced since being here?

T.C.: I'd say trying to find the time to meet new people. When I get so wrapped up in my sports and school, I lose track of meeting other people and going out, so I think that's probably been one of the hardest things for me. I'm a little bit shy at first, but once I get talking I can talk a lot. I'm just not one of the first people to walk up and introduce myself. I'm more reserved so the hardest part has been finding friends outside my sport. I think over time I'll meet more people.

Q: Do you have an idea about what you might want to do with a degree in communication?

T.C.: I've re-thought about it a lot because I figure if I'm going to get an education at USC, I kind of want to go for it all. I'm trying to figure out what I want to minor in. My mom thinks I should minor in political science. I don't know because I wanted to do sports broadcasting. That was like the main thing that I wanted to do because I like speaking and I thought talking about sports would be fun. Since I've been here I've thought about Presidential speaking, or speaking for political leaders. I think I want to do something that involves speaking for people, but I'm still trying to figure it out.

Q: When thinking about this upcoming season do you ever get nervous?

T.C.: I guess it hasn't hit me that the season is right around the corner and once we come back from Christmas break our first meet is going to be about two weeks after we get back. So I think that's when it'll really hit me that I'm officially starting my career here starting indoor. I haven't really done indoor that much so that'll be very interesting. So yeah I'll be nervous when it comes around but right now I'm just excited and I'm just ready to go out there and run and see how it goes. I mean I've never trained like this before so I want to see where I go from here.

Q: Are there goals you've set for yourself this year?

T.C.: Definitely to get on the 4x400m is one of them. There's so many great girls, so I think that's one of the things that I really want to be a part of. I love the 4x400m, I love being a part of a team in that element and it's probably one of the most exciting races. It's at the end of the meet and everyone's watching it and it's super hyped up. I also want to PR in the 400m and 200m. Overall, just looking for growth in any area, any second, but basically just looking to get better and faster.

Q: Do you think you'd want to do track professionally?

T.C.: If I end up becoming so amazing that i can go pro, then yeah I'd like to see what it's like to be pro for a couple years. If I'm not, then I'm going to take my education and go out and do something amazing in that area, too. I feel like here I can't really lose in any scenario. I'm going to get the training to go professional if I want to, and I'm going to have the education to go out and get a good job if I want to. Whatever happens, happens!

Q: What keeps you going?

T.C.: Remembering my love for the sport and all the people that have gotten me here. That's something I try to remember a lot. It is all of the people that have supported me with my journey with track are still there cheering for me, checking in with me, and just keeping tabs on me and how I'm doing. I think that's something that's kept me going.

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