Getting To Know Yougendy Mauricette

In this edition of "Getting To Know" freshman hurdler Yougendy Mauricette shares lessons from his track experience and growth he's undergone since joining the Trojan Family.

Q: You're a long way from home being from Delaware, has your family had a chance to come here to see you compete?

Y.M.: Not yet, but one of my coaches from back home is coming for the Dual Meet. He's basically like a dad to me.

Q: How'd that relationship get to the point where it is today?

Y.M.: Well, it started when my high school coach suggested I do AAU track and he was the coach at the time. He was the one that was teaching me everything about track because I was still relatively new, and we ended up just bonding over our experience together. I've been with him for years at this point. He's been my favorite coach.

Q: You won the state division for long jump, did you think about long jumping once you got to college?

Y.M.: I do want to long jump, however the athletes at the collegiate level jump pretty far, so I'm slowly going to see if I can build my way up there and if the coaches allow it, then we'll see.

Q: From your experiences at New Balance Nationals, Junior Olympics, and State Championships which was your favorite to compete in?

Y.M.: I'd have to say New Balance. Mainly because I was really scared and nervous about my race. That feeling when I crossed the line and realized I had won was such a great feeling. The atmosphere and the energy made for one of my favorite meets of all time.

Q: Out of those three, which was the most challenging?

Y.M.: My State meet. By my junior year I felt as if I was expected to win. Going into every race I'm thinking I know I can win, and I know I should win, but things happen all the time. Just thinking about negative things like falling over a hurdle and losing would be embarrassing…which I actually did fall that year in the 300m hurdles, but I still won.

Q: What do you think sets USC's program apart from some of the other schools you were looking at?

Y.M.: Definitely its alumni and coaches. Not everyone on a coaching staff can say they went to the Olympics and won. And when you think about it, Team USA is basically USC. If they didn't come here, they at least train here and there's a reason for that.

Q: Majoring in Comp-Sci requires a lot of time, have you found it difficult to balance your academic schedule with your athletic one?

Y.M.: Yes, the entire first semester I couldn't practice at the original time we had it scheduled. Luckily coach (Joanna) Hayes was very flexible and allowed the men to practice a little bit later so we could all train together. As for this semester, my biggest challenge is catching up to everybody in the class because whenever I travel, I usually miss the lab and a lecture. It can feel like one day we're calculating 2+2 and the next we're calculating the surface of the sun. Overall, just learning the pacing has been a bit difficult but everything else has been pretty nice.

Q: Have you found any success in figuring that out?

Y.M.: In the fall I figured out a schedule for my homework pretty well. As of late, I can say I've been good at managing my studying time.

Q: What would you say is one of the biggest lessons track has taught you?

Y.M.: It taught me two lessons. One, that I'm stronger than I really thought. Sometimes I wonder if someone normal would be doing this because I could just quit at any point, but something keeps bringing me back. Another is when life gives you opportunities, just take them. I would not be here if I didn't take the opportunity to run track. It's just a blessing to be here.

Q: Being that anime is one of your favorite things to watch in your free time do you have any favorites?

Y.M.: My favorite anime is definitely Bleach. I've watched it around eight times. Another favorite anime is FullMetal Alchemist, one of the classics.

Q: Who's some of your favorite characters?

Y.M.: Probably Sinbad and Gojo. I just really like the overpowered characters because they know they're strong and that you can't mess with them.

Players Mentioned

Yougendy Mauricette

Getting To Know Yougendy Mauricette

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University Southern California Trojans

Players Mentioned

Yougendy Mauricette

Getting To Know Yougendy Mauricette

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