Sometimes, staying motivated when being a student-athlete can be very challenging.
Ka’Le Hogue, a returning Grambling track star, provided insight on her track life and experiences.
“I am the first person to attend college and be a D1 athlete in my family so, I think of all the family members I have and think of how I have to be strong and inspirational for them,” Hogue said.
Hogue has been running track for a very long time.
“I’ve been running track since I was six years old. And I was on a AA team called the Dashers Track Club,” she said. “I ran with them since middle school and then I moved from my home and started running in high school and at another AA team during the summer. I’ve been running track ever since.”
Hogue plans on running throughout graduate school and undergrad.
“Running is my life and I don’t plan on not running anytime soon,” she said.
Hogue describes herself as resilient.
“The word that describes me the most is resilient simply because the way I come back from things, my comeback game it’s very strong,” Hogue said.
Hogue said she loves her teammates.
“I have teammates that are encouraging and who brings all of us up and wants us to be better and they all want the same thing,” she said. “They are goal oriented and that’s one of the reasons I like being part of the team.”
As much as track is challenging, it can be fun as well.
Hogue said she and her teammates make practice fun.
“It's fun when we’re on the line and we’re about to go and you hear one teammate scream for you, then another one and another one is screaming for you. It’s the whole team rooting for you to be your best and that’s what makes it fun. We just encourage each other to be better athletes,” she said.
Sometimes being a team member is tough but there’s always someone who steps up to the plate and encourages the team.
“Our team captain right now is very informative and she’s great at communicating,” Hogue said. “I would say that our team captain has great qualities of a team captain. She knows all the events that are going to take place or anything that might be coming up, she lets us know and she also checks on us. She’s very caring. She has a lot of great qualities to make her a great team captain. “
When being an athlete, most people have someone they look up to. In this case, Jackie Joyner- Kersee inspired Hogue.
“Jackie Joyner-Kersee is my sports hero, she started a center in East St. Louis and that’s where I am from,” Hogue said. “That's a place where we would go in the summer and have events there. We would have barbecues and it would be a place where people can come together. She was very inspirational to me; she came back to her home and did something big while being a great athlete.”
Ka’Le Hogue