When you're in the zone, you don't ask any questions, you don't make any excuses. You also don't make any mistakes. There's really just one thing you can do - run with it.
Or in Nicole Forrester's case, you jump with it.
The star high jumper for the Michigan women's track team has certainly been in the zone for the last three weeks.
At the April 19 Michigan State Invitational, the sophomore set the school record with a height of 6-foot-1/2.
A week later, at the prestigious Penn Relays, Forrester came back with a jump of 6-2 3/4, good enough for a new meet record. To put her accomplishment into perspective, the Penn Relays in Philadelphia is the biggest meet of the year - aside from the Big Ten and NCAA championships.
"When I was doing it, I didn't even know I was going for the record," Forrester said. "Maybe it hasn't really dawned on me right now, but maybe down the line in a couple of weeks, I'll be like 'That was pretty good.'"
Last weekend, Forrester followed her record-setting performance with a jump of 5-10 at the Jesse Owens Classic at Ohio State. The height earned her another first-place finish, but wasn't as impressive as her previous two jumps. Michigan coach James Henry said Forrester still needs to improve.
"It wouldn't surprise me if Nicole had a bad day at Big Tens and placed fourth or fifth," Henry said. "But it also wouldn't surprise me if she jumped 6-5 at Big Tens. She's a young girl, so she's still learning the high jump. (Penn) was just one day when everything came together."
The other Wolverines haven't exactly been sitting around, either.
Three distance runners qualified provisionally for the NCAAs at Penn. Sophomores Marcy Akard and Katie McGregor placed sixth in their events, the 5,000- and 3,000-meter runs, respectively. Rounding things out for the distance crew was senior Katy Hollbacher, who finished seventh in the 10,000.
Junior heptathlete Tania Longe was absent from most competition at Penn due to a hamstring injury.
Longe came back in strong fashion at the Jesse Owens, however, winning the long jump with a distance of 19-foot-5.
While most of the team was in Buckeye country, the Michigan distance runners traveled to Indiana to compete in the National Invitational. The Wolverines had an impressive group performance in the 3,000, finishing Akard, Julie Froud and Hollbacher second, third and fourth, respectively.
Henry said that, despite the injuries and the hassle of poor weather conditions, the Wolverines should be able to contend for the conference title in three weeks.
"We're a couple weeks behind," Henry said. "The fortunate part is that Big Tens are in a couple weeks, so I think we'll be ready and competitive."
ROB GILMORE/Daily
High jumper Nicole Forrester deserves this rest, considering her accomplishment at the Penn Relays. Forrester set the meet record with a height of 6-foot-2 3/4.