Graduate Student jumper Jazmin Ray has been selected as the \u2018South Texan Spotlight\u2019 athlete for the issue. Ray has broken records, including her very own, this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the indoor season Ray set a school record in triple jump also finishing as Second Team All American and being named LSC Field Athlete of the Week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ray has excelled in the outdoor season. She wasted no time breaking another school record with a record-breaking triple jump of 12.50m. Then just the following week she broke her newly set record with a new jump of 12.73m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Q: Tell me about yourself and where you are from?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A: My childhood was spent living in East Texas and I later graduated from Whitehouse High School. I am an extroverted individual who is happy to get to know new people. I initially attended Southwest Baptist university out of high school but transferred to TAMUK in the Fall of ’22. I am beyond blessed to have so many people supporting me from my hometown and the university.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Q: What are your favorite hobbies outside of athletics and academics?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A: I love to travel, spend time with friends, and try new things. Experiencing the world through food, new adventures and different perspectives is incredibly rewarding. At the same time, I also value my downtime – resetting at home, enjoying time alone and catching up on my favorite shows.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Q: Favorite experience\/moment at TAMUK?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A: Rediscovering my love for track is one of my favorites. Early in my collegiate career, I found myself in an enviroment that did not align with who I wanted to become. However, when Coach Dall emphasized that the top priority would be staying healthy. I knew I had found my new home. Over the past three years at TAMUK, I have built strong relationships with the coaching staff and my teammates. These relationships created a journey filled with laughter, milestones and hard work.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Q: What does your game\/meet day routine look like for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A: It begins the night before with visualization and a Bible study before bed, helping me prepare mentally and spiritually. To keep my focus solely on competition, I make sure to handle all academic responsibilities beforehand. On meet day, I keep meal light with a small breakfast and coffee before getting dressed in my signature graphic long socks. When it’s time to compete, I center myself with positive self-talk, a prayer for health, and a mental and physical walkthrough of my jump. I like to stay loose between jumps by dancing or singing whatever song is stuck in my head. I approach every jump attempt the same way-trusting my preparation and leaving the rest in God’s hands. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Q: What are your goals after college?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A: My priotiy is to live a fulfilling life while continuously striving for growth. I have never envisioned a traditional career path-I want to create something of my own that makes a meaningful impact. Life is too short to spend decades in a 9-to-5, only to retire when its to late to truly enjoy it. Another dream of mine it\u2019s too travel to every continent .<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Graduate Student jumper Jazmin Ray has been selected as the \u2018South Texan Spotlight\u2019 athlete for the issue. Ray has broken records, including her very own,… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":11495,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[141],"ppma_author":[288],"class_list":["post-11494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-sports"],"aioseo_notices":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"Photo via Javelina Athletics","source_text":"","source_url":""},"authors":[{"term_id":288,"user_id":132,"is_guest":0,"slug":"mark-paz","display_name":"Mark Paz","avatar_url":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/f8c5d411667d054487c111ee694f0255.jpg?ver=1775003399","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/132"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11494"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11496,"href":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11494\/revisions\/11496"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11494"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=11494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}