Evans set to represent Montana, compete for spot at Olympic Games

Five years after concluding her record-setting career at Montana, jumper Sammy Evans continues to make a name for herself in a big way. In fact, on Friday evening, the Havre native will jump on a national stage – with hopes of reaching the world's largest international competition.

With a recent triple jump of more than 43 feet, Evans qualified for this weekend's U.S. Olympic Team Trials. The competition will take place over the next several at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.

Evans' opportunity will come on Friday at 7:15 p.m. (MT), and fans have the opportunity to watch the former Grizzly compete via a live broadcast on NBC Sports Network. Fans can also watch on NBCOlympics.com and through the NBC Sports app.

Evans, who after graduation moved to Arizona to train full time, is one of 24 athletes who qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in the triple jump. Evans is seeded 20^th in the entire United States, and although only the top three will advance to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, she also knows that it only takes one mark.

"I'm going in with the mentality that these are my finals," Evans said Thursday evening from Eugene. "Some athletes, they might be able to do different things, or have a safe jump to get them to the finals. For me, every single jump from now through Sunday is going to count. I need to start making up feet and making up ground.

"I'm just going to go for it. I'm trying to execute everything that I've practiced, and use my adrenaline and not hold anything back."

During an illustrious career at Montana, Evans was a four-time Big Sky Conference champion, winning the triple jump three times and the long jump once. She holds three school records and qualified for NCAA Regionals three times, finishing 18^th in the long jump in 2016 and 14^th in the triple jump that same season.

In 2016, she was named the Big Sky Conference Most Valuable Athlete. She graduated from Montana with a pair of bachelor's degrees in health & human performance and psychology.

The top athletes from Friday's preliminary field will advance to Sunday's finals, which will take place at 6:55 p.m. (MT) and will be broadcast nationally on NBC.

Following her final training session in Eugene, Evans took time to talk with GoGriz.com on Thursday evening:

First of all, congratulations on reaching this point. How surreal is it to be at Hayward Field surrounded by this level of competition?
I think yesterday is when it started to feel more real. We got our COVID tests, we got our credentials, we all got a piece of the old Heyward Field. Today when I went back to practice, there's signage up everywhere now. Security is way up, there are fans outside the gates trying to spot athletes. There are tons of high-tech cameras set up for the broadcast. I've been to other indoor championship meets, but you can tell this is taken up a notch, and tomorrow it will go up another notch.

When I graduated college, I made it a goal that I wanted to pursue a dream of competing in the Olympics, and over the last day it's really sunk in that I've made it to the Olympic trials. I made it. There's still work to do, but I made it.

What have the past several years looked like for you since you graduated from the University of Montana?
I always knew I wanted to move to Arizona because the weather is so good for training. I started being coached by Larry Todd, whose daughter, Jasmine Todd, competed at Oregon and for Team USA. He also coached Will Claye, a bronze medalist jumper. He's a very well-known coach.

It's been such an up-and-down roller coaster. I messed my ankle up really bad before I left Montana; I'm fine now but there is still pain. My first two years here, I got really sick. I had a lot of health issues and couldn't do a lot of meets. I started to come back last year and looked and felt really good. Finally, I was done being sick and then the world gets sick.

There have been a lot of rough patches since I graduated. I wasn't competing in a lot of big meets, and not a lot of people knew I was still competing, because even when I was I wasn't doing particularly well. But this is the best I've looked as far as form, technique and being in shape. My timing is really good and I think it's going to be a really good meet for me.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, you had to wait an extra year to get to this point. What were some of the challenges you faced?
When it was in the in-between phase and they weren't sure what they were going to do, it was really hard. You had to keep training, but you didn't have anywhere to train. You wanted to be ready, but you also wanted to time things so that you were at your best when the time did come.

Once they moved the Olympics back a year, I didn't think I was going to pursue it. I had already put a lot of money on a credit card, and logically it didn't make sense to keep going. Logically it didn't make sense, but emotionally, I would say, 'Yes, do it!'.

There was a two-week stretch where gyms were open in Arizona, and I was at the gym and a guy (Andrew Nash) came up to me and asked what I was training for. He always saw me doing crazy lifts and drills, and could tell it was for something. I don't know why, but he wanted to help me, so he put me in touch with one of his assistants and I explained my situation. I showed him the numbers of what it cost, and this year it was even more because there were no local meets in Arizona. His company began sponsoring me this year, and in turn I work as a personal trainer for some of his clients.

I have so many examples of that, of friends and strangers who want to see me be successful, and it just helped me realize that this is a dream worth pursuing.

When did reaching this point, and vying to become an Olympic athlete, become a realistic goal to you?
I had the realization when I was in college. It was during my junior year and I was at NAU competing at the Big Sky Championships. I scratched this jump, barely, but where I landed was where a girl had landed right before me. It was right around 44 feet. At that point I realized I could jump with the best in the nation.

I had that realization in college, but then I lost it when I got sick. I questioned myself. I got nervous. Is it doable? Is it reasonable? One day, when I was still sick and not in great shape, I still jumped 43 feet, and at that point I realized I could still do it. This year, even on some of the jumps I scratched, I looked back on them and I looked good doing it, even if I didn't have my timing figured out. Seeing that video and realizing how far I've come and how much I still have to get together, it gave me confidence.

On paper it might not look at it, but if you see my jumps, and you see my technique, I think people are starting to see I have a lot of potential if I put it all together."

Being such a high-level athlete, what drives you to succeed?
Naturally, I've always had a mentality that works well in sport. I love competing. I love to win. I love to get better. What's really helped me the last few years is I really want to do something for Montana. I want to open a door for other athletes in Montana.

Not many people from Montana make it to the world stage, and I don't think it's because we don't have talented athletes. We might not have the coaching and opportunities that other states have, but I think if we can get more doors open, we can raise the bar. All of the times I thought I could quit – and probably should quit – I knew I couldn't because someone needs to see it. I've been around athletes from all over the world, some of the best athletes in the world, and the thing that Montana athletes have more than others is grit. Our mentality beats them out, we just need opportunities, and we need more doors open. I hope to open some of those doors.

You have all of Montana and Griz Nation cheering you on. How proud are you to represent Montana at this level?
So, so proud. Growing up, I always wanted to be a Griz. Even before I got offered a scholarship, I already knew I was going to come to Montana. Brian Schweyen was amazing, and Coach Adam (Bork) was my favorite. He did so much for me. I don't think any other school would have put as much time and effort into me as my coaches did. I had so many issues that I needed to fix, but that's what Montana does that's so amazing… they recruit in-state athletes that other people maybe wouldn't recruit. We might not be as polished, but they're willing to work harder to get us better.

I love representing Griz Nation. I'm currently staying with a former track teammate and a former Griz football player in Oregon. I brought my Montana track & field jacket with me to Eugene and represent it.

Being from Montana and representing Montana means so much to me. Honestly, I'm still sometimes in shock. I really am from Havre, Montana, and I've made it on the world stage.

University of Montana Athletics

Evans set to represent Montana, compete for spot at Olympic Games

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