Tara Rucker

Student

“I’d really like to go on into child psychology because I think young kids need all the help they can get.”

On the SMC Women’s Track Team, Tara Rucker is what’s known as a “triple threat.” Her events are the long jump, the triple jump and the high jump. So far this season, her team is undefeated, but that hasn’t stopped Tara from being dissatisfied with what she has achieved thus far.

“My best event is the long jump where my personal best is 17' 10-1/2",” she says. “But I don’t want to talk about my successes. I’m nowhere near where I want to be in any of my events.” But Tara says that a strong team and her coach—former Olympian Tommy Smith—will keep her pushing the limits. “We’ve got a really strong team in almost every event,” she says. “And working with Tommy Smith is a real opportunity for all of us. He really knows what he’s talking about in track events and he’s a real motivator to the whole team.”

Tara hopes to turn success on the track into a full scholarship when she transfers. “Right now, a scholarship is the only way I know of that’ll let me keep competing,” she says. “But I want to stay in competition as long as I can.” For now, she’s concentrating on her required classes, theater arts and speech among them. “Those two classes are helping me to express myself,” she says. “I’ve got a lot of friends here at school and—they might be surprised to know this—but I’m really a very shy person.”

But for the moment, Tara is letting her feet do the talking as part of powerful SMC’s Women’s Track Team. “My family really wants me to stay with school,” she says. “I just hope I can make them proud of me—on and off the track.”

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