North Carolina State University Athletics
Catching Up With Joya Rodgers
11/23/2005 12:00:00 AM | Track
Nov. 23, 2005
Joya Rodgers, a junior on the NC State women's track & field teams, sat down with GoPack.com recently for a quick chat. Rodgers, a sprinter from Charlotte, N.C., is a Criminology major who just missed all-conference honors last year with a fourth place finish in the 60m dash at the ACC Indoor Championships. Rogers also competed in the 200m at ACC Indoors and ACC Outdoors and took sixth place in the 100m at the ACC Outdoor Championships. Running the first leg of the fifth place 4x100m relay team at ACC Outdoors, Rodgers also took the third leg of the Wolfpack 4x400m relay.
GoPack: How is the preseason going?
JR: It's going great actually. I feel a lot stronger. That was my weakness last year. I'm feeling a lot faster already.
GoPack: What have been doing that's different?
JR: Taking the weight room seriously and just a lot more focus. I want to win ACCs in the 60m.
GoPack: How is the sprint team doing as a whole?
JR: Everybody seems to be getting a lot faster. We had a mock track meet a couple weeks ago and our times were great. I broke my PR, they were hand timed, but still that's a good indication, since we still have a month and a half.
GoPack: How is school going?
JR: It's going. I'm taking a sociology class, a political science class, which is my favorite class, called Law and Justice. I've also got an English class and Anthropology.
GoPack: What are you taking next semester?
JR: Another sociology class on juvenile delinquents, African-American Literature, a Spanish class and a science and technology class.
GoPack: What are your post-college plans?
JR: I want to either be a lawyer or an FBI agent. I'm not sure about law school though. I definitely want to get a good career though. I don't just want a job, I want a real career.
GoPack: Tell us about your family.
JR: My sister, Jahmilah, lives with my mother, Debbie. My brothers Jacob and Joshua live with my father, JP, right down the street from my Mom. I have an older brother, Jason, who lives and works in Charlotte too. We're all named after our Dad in that all of our names start with "J" and our middle names start with "P." Jacob is 17 and is a senior at West Charlotte. He wants to go to a Culinary Arts School. Jahmilah is 15, a sophomore and is very good at ROTC. She was one of six people chosen out of all the ROTC people in Charlotte to go to some conference. So she'll probably get a scholarship to college for that. Joshua is 13 and is an eighth grader. He plays the drums and can do all the moves from the movie Drumline.
GoPack: So you're going home for Thanksgiving and the whole family will there. What will that be like?
JR: Crazy. All soul food ... everything you can think of. Holidays are the best because we just wile out. We get together it's real fun. I'm excited about it. We act silly. Everybody in my family is a comedian. So we're constantly crackin' jokes and laughing at each other. Another thing we always do is me, my Dad and my sister always go to the women's shelter and serve breakfast on Thanksgiving and Christmas mornings.
GoPack: Who's the funniest member of the sprints team?
JR: Me! (laughing) Along with Ebony (Foster), when we're together it's non-stop laughter. I pick on everybody and everything. My favorite person to pick on is Armand (Quenum). He is so slow ... in everything he does! Yet, he has a 3.9 GPA and is fast as can be on the track, but everything else is so slow. He looks like he's in slow motion all the time! He eats slow, chewing everything up so slow. He walks slow, talks slow, even his start is slow. It looks like he pauses!
GoPack: What are you looking to improve on this year?
JR: My strength is my start, but my weakness is my finish. That's why I'm trying to get stronger so that I can drive through those last half. Last year (at the ACC Outdoor Championship) I was winning the 100m through 50m, but then everybody caught up.
GoPack: What do you like to do in your free time?
JR: Hang out with Omar (Wells). I like to dance too. I used to be a cheerleader in high school.
GoPack: What else did you do in high school?
JR: The only sports I did was run track and cheer. But I was the senior class Vice President, I was in the Debate Club and I played in the orchestra.
GoPack: What instrument did you play?
JR: The violin. I miss that. I've played from fifth grade all the way through 12th grade. I want to pick it back up, but I just don't have time now.
GoPack: Do you parents make it out to many of your track meets?
JR: Yeah, we go to a couple in Charlotte every year so they always go to those and then my Mom goes to a bunch of others too. She's like my backbone in track. She's been there since day one she comes to a lot of my meets. She gives me a lot of pep talks and relieves a lot of pressure for me. She brings nice snacks for me to eat too!
GoPack: What was your most embarrassing moment on the track?
JR: I fell off the table in front of everybody in the training room one time and rolled into somebody. It was so funny. And on the track, my freshman year as I was practicing my start before my race and I plowed right into some guy, knocked him over, I fell down and rolled.
GoPack: What are your pre-race rituals?
JR: I always eat pasta the night before and go to bed early. Then I try to eat pancakes in the morning and then I listen to Crime Mob. I listen to them and I get crunk and ready to run.
GoPack: Thanks for your time Joya. Good job and good luck this season.
