St. John's University Athletics
Winding Up: Chanel King Prepares For Championship Run
2/15/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
Feb. 15, 2011
QUEENS, N.Y. - Around St. John's University's Queens Campus, track & field junior Chanel King maintains a constant presence.
Whether she's working out in the weight room, practicing in the auxiliary gym, attending a meeting in Carnesecca Arena or the D'Angelo Center, studying in Marillac or working as an usher at a basketball game, King can be found just about anywhere.
While she juggles a lot as a St. John's student-athlete, her main focus right now is the championship portion of the indoor track & field season.
The junior co-captain has set a new career-best mark in the weight throw in each of the past two weekends she's competed, with her latest performance ranking her seventh all-time at St. John's.
"She's really a tremendous worker," said head coach Jim Hurt. "She's well prepared and when the meet comes up she's able to really step up and raise the level one more notch. That's something she's done throughout her career for us."
Leading St. John's to its first Indoor Metropolitan Championship since 1989, King finished first in the weight throw with a career-best toss of 17.30 meters, eclipsing her previous best of 16.99 meters. A week later, at the New Balance Invitational, King drastically improved yet again with another career-best throw of 17.59 meters.
"It's been very exciting because I've been working hard for several weeks and I'm just glad to see it," King said. "It just encourages me to really train hard and go after the BIG EAST."
A huge part of King's encouragement comes from one of the six people who sit atop King in the all-time record books. Assistant track & field coach and former St. John's athlete Blessing Egwu is second all-time at St. John's in the weight throw and has been a tremendous motivator for King since being hired in October.
"She's been a great deal of help," King said. "It's good to have a coach that's always there, that's always in your face and knows what you're going through."
Egwu couldn't be happier about King's latest efforts either.
"I don't know where to start," Egwu said. "I'm just so proud of her. She's been working hard, getting stronger and improving significantly with every meet."
Coming to St. John's from Upper Darby, Pa., King has been taking full advantage of her college experience. As the co-vice president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC)-along with volleyball player Kayla Motoyama-King spends time away from her own sport to focus on the needs of her fellow student-athletes.
Recently, King and other members of SAAC attended an APPLE (Athletic Prevention Programing and Leadership Education) conference, a program dedicated toward promoting student-athlete health and wellness. The program, created by the Center for Alcohol and Substance Education at the University of Virginia, enables student-athletes to be leaders in peer education about substance abuse and other health issues by helping different institutions develop unique action plans for educating others and raising awareness.
"Chanel is so versatile and has a lot of leadership qualities," Egwu said. "She has participated in several community service activities that we've had, and is really active in the community. She is a great person and stretches herself as much as she can."
In the near future, King plans to incorporate SAAC with the Student Peer Mentors Program and the Student Development Center to have subordinate APPLE conferences within St. John's.
"She's willing to go out of her way and do the extra thing to be highly successful," Hurt said. "That attitude just carries over into everything she does. She's a great kid with a great personality."
King's passion for sport branches into another aspect of her college experience, her current job as a student-worker for the St. John's athletic facilities department. She continually stays motivated by watching her fellow student-athletes perform.
"I've had this job since the beginning of my first semester freshman year," King said. "It's actually a lot of fun and it's better for me because it keeps me motivated."
Upon graduation, King may trade in the shot put in exchange for a shotgun. Having a passion for law enforcement and government, King plans to join the U.S. Marshals after graduating next spring.
"I wanted to be an archeologist when I came to college," King said. "I've always wanted to do either archeology or work with the U.S. Marshals, but I leaned toward being a cop and working with the government in some way. I also have family members that are in government."
As for now, King's primary focus is geared towards the Indoor BIG EAST Championships this weekend at the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio. Her assistant coach and mentor will be her biggest fan.
"Chanel is an awesome athlete and a great competitor," Egwu said. "I just hope she can get a big one when it counts during the BIG EAST Championships."
