Taking a road trip to follow your favorite local
team? Book
your hotel stay at any of over 40,000 hotel rooms throughout
the world with our online travel booking system. Coming soon,
airfare and car rental deals.
ATHLETES AMONG US
The Arizona Republic Oct. 22, 2002 12:00 AM
Jessica
Grant
Jessica Grant
• Sport of choice: Archery.
• Age: 18.
• Family: Parents, Fred and Kathy
Grant.
• Student: Freshman at Glendale
Community College. Graduate of Greenway High School.
• Current status: Ranked No. 1
nationally in her age group.
• Major athletic accomplishment: "It
would have to be making world teams and doing well in those
under such pressure. I take a lot of pride in shooting well
under pressure." She has won nine national tournaments and was
a member of U.S. teams that won both indoor and outdoor world
championships last year in Florence, Italy, and the Czech
Republic.
• Home on the range: She has been
shooting for 14 years and showed an early knack for hitting
the target. "My dad hunted with a bow, my mom had a bow, and
they decided it would be a good family thing to do. They
picked me up a cheap bow, my dad took the suction cups off the
arrows and put on tips, and I shot with those. After a while,
it got a lot more serious."
• Next challenge: She'll be competing
for a spot on the U.S. adult team when she competes in the
Indoor World Trials in January.
• Looking ahead: After two years at
GCC, she wants to attend James Madison University, which has
an archery team, and study sports psychology.
• It takes a steady hand . . . "It's
more than that. We work out and run to keep steady. It's not
just the hand or the arm, it's the whole body, legs, stomach,
everything has to be strong to hold the bow steady."
• On the money: In events where she
shoots 144 arrows, worth 1,440 points with all bull's eyes,
she usually scores between 1360 and 1370.
• So do you ever miss the whole target?
"Not too much anymore. If I do, it would have to be
equipment failure."
- Jim Gintonio Have a candidate for Athletes Among Us? E-mail:
jim.gintonio@arizonarepublic.com.
.gif){kind=spacer}
.gif){kind=small}