North Carolina State University Athletics
In the Circle: Nicole Chavis
4/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Track
For Nicole Chavis, a redshirt thrower, going onto the field has a lot more components than it seems--it is a culmination of her participation in high school sports, her team and making N.C. State her home.
This has led her to becoming a two-time All-American in weight throw, the first in N.C. State's history.
Chavis said this motivation has come from setting a school record her freshman year, which set a goal for her.
"Getting the school record my freshman year, I thought that was really big," Chavis said. "I didn't even know what Nationals was or that they had a national track meet until I was really close to going my freshman year. After that going to Nationals and scoring, I'm trying to do that again. Once you go, you need to go back. You need to finish a little bit better than the year before."
Since then, she made an appearance to the 2015 NCAA Indoor Championships, finishing sixth with a distance of 69'5.50" in weight throw, which earned her first team All-American honors for the second time in her career.
"Earning the title All-American is really special to me, because it shows all the work that you put in," Chavis said. "I am very appreciative of the title, but it makes you strive to move up those couple places to become an All-American national champion."
Chavis credits her success to her teammates pushing her and each other to do better.
"My team is really supportive of what I'm doing especially Coach Wood and especially the throwers, since I spend a lot of time with them everyday," she said. "All of the team is very supportive, and we all push each other to do better, because we all know we can do better."
She also added this support makes the transition from the indoor to the outdoor season smoother, especially with the change of instruments, techniques and setting, and help her accomplish different goals.
"A lot of the instruments change from indoor to outdoor, so we try to set goals for each from indoor to outdoor throughout the years," Chavis said. "For weight, I had a goal, and I accomplished it. For outdoor, I have a different goal, and I hope to accomplish it too."
Chavis said she likes the indoor season best because of the weight throw event. 
"Weight throw is my favorite event," Chavis said. "It is the hardest on the body. It makes you work a whole lot more, and I think if you put that work in, and you come out victorious, then it just makes it all the better." 
Although Chavis still has two outdoor and one indoor seasons left, she knows that she doesn't want to leave the weight once she completes her collegiate career.
"Depending on how my body is and how long coach wants to put up with me after I graduate, I would love to train still with the weight," she said. "I don't want to put it down and walk away from it completely. Of course, I want to have a career, but I want to still work on something that has made me who I am."
Story by GoPack Writer Liz Moomey
