Coming into her freshman year of college, Melissa Romero had a Delaware State Championship in the high jump on her rsum. But when Romero started practicing with the Syracuse track and field team, the coaches told her she would have to start ‘almost completely from scratch’ with her technique in the event.

At the Sam Howell Invitational in Princeton, N.J., on April 7, Romero showed that despite revamping the technique she was using for the past seven years, she still had the talent to place first in the high jump. Romero jumped 1.65 meters to win the event, .05 meters ahead of the second-place finisher.

‘It’s been so frustrating changing my technique,’ Romero said. ‘I’ve been high jumping since sixth grade, and with that technique drilled into my head, it’s hard. I’m still not as consistent of a jumper as I would like to be, but I keep telling myself it’s only my freshman year and I have a lot left to go.’

Last year, when Romero was a senior at Padua Academy in Wilmington, Del., she led her team to a state championship. The meet was tied before the beginning of the high jump and the 4 x 400-meter relay. Romero won the high jump, and the Padua relay team won their event, to give Padua a 69-52 win over Glasgow High School. Later in the year, Padua completed the state’s triple crown by winning the cross country, indoor track and outdoor track state championships. Romero was on two of those three teams.

‘Helping my team win was a great way to end my senior year of high school,’ Romero said. ‘Winning a state championship meant so much to me, but winning the event in college meant something even more because the level of competition – it can’t compare.’

Upon Romero’s arrival at Syracuse, though, SU assistant coach Enoch Borozinski saw there were plenty of technical aspects to alter. Romero’s technique had to be changed because she moves parallel to the bar, Borozinski said, but it’s better to be perpendicular. Romero had the tendency to move horizontal instead of vertical around the bar, which wastes energy for a high jumper, Borozinski said.

‘Sometimes when making changes, confidence drops in an athlete, the kids get frustrated with how things are going,’ Borozinski said. ‘It’s nice that she can make changes and still get positive results; a win is really good for her.’

Borozinski also has her working more in the weight room on her strength, conditioning, running one or two speed workouts a week, and doing new drills like double leg drills and ply metrics.

Initially Romero didn’t take too well to Borozinski’s changes. Her first meet of the indoor season this winter at the Cornell Relays did not go as well as she would have liked. She jumped 1.55 meters, which she considered ‘below or at average.’

Throughout the indoor season, her performances were inconsistent. At times she would perform very well while using the new techniques Borozinski taught her, but during other meets she would not be able to jump as high as her previous personal bests.

The breakthrough, though, may have come last weekend in Princeton. Her first-place finish may show she’s finally adjusted to the new technique and give her the confidence that she can succeed at the college level, too.

‘After training so hard, I was really excited to see how I would do,’ Romero said. ‘I realized, though, that I’m still learning and have a long way to go. It will all pay off.

‘I really didn’t expect to do anything noteworthy my freshman year. The competition in division one is so intense and so much different than what I experienced my senior year of high school. But all of this is so great for me and for my training. To take first place as a freshman means a lot.’

Published on April 10, 2007 at 12:00 pm