Tsiknas having strong first year for Mansfield

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http://thedailyreview.com/sports/tsikna ... d-1.567908

Tsiknas having strong first year for Mansfield
BY BRIAN FEES (SPORTS EDITOR)
Published: January 24, 2010


Over the past two years Alexa Tsiknas went from just starting out in the pole vault, to making it to the PIAA Championships in the event.

However, as much success as she had at the high school level, she never imagined that she would have an instant impact at the collegiate level.

In her first year at Mansfield University the Troy High School graduate has already broken the school record in the pole vault during the indoor season.

"I'm a little bit surprised," Tsiknas said. "I'm kind of happy, it's nice to have that kind of success."

For Tsiknas the improvement in her vaulting has come with more and more time working on the event.

"Definitely, practice makes perfect," she said. "I'm getting a lot more confidence now. I have just tried to take my experience from high school and bring it to college and build on it."

One thing that has helped make the transition to college easier has been the coaching staff at Mansfield.

"It's amazing, the coaches are great, they really know what they are talking about," Tsiknas said. "They ask for my goals and I give those to them and they are willing to help me achieve them."

Another thing that has helped in college is getting pushed in every meet Mansfield competes in.

"I really like having good competition, it really motivates me to go out and do my best," Tsiknas said.

And when she gets the chance to watch other vaulters it has helped Tsiknas to learn from them and improve herself.

"I'm a very visual learner," she said. "It really helps me a lot to see other good vaulters."

Those goals that Tsiknas told the coaches she would like to achieve this year are pretty lofty ones.

"This year I would like to get above like 12 or 13 feet in outdoors and for my four years I just want to keep trying to get to a higher level," she said.

Part of the fun for Tsiknas at Mansfield is that she gets to compete with some other athletes from the NTL that she once competed against.

"It's really fun, we can talk to each other and support each other," she said. "It's fun to be on the same team as people I used to compete against."

And being in college also means meeting new teammates Tskinas can learn from.

"It's always nice to make new friends," she said. "We all encourage each other and we learn from each other."

While Tsiknas has been competing in the pole vault, the running she did in high school may soon pay off as she works on other events.

"They are training me to do the heptathlon in outdoors and I'm working on the pentathlon for indoors," she said. "It's a little weird, it's definitely different, but it's a lot of fun."

The different thing for Tsiknas will be working on throws and jumps, which she never did in high school. "I've definitely always wanted to go out and try the javelin, or some other events," she said "Usually in high school I would just do the pole vault and the sprints, so it's nice to try some new things."

And that pole vaulting ability may help her with some of the new events.

"Sometimes with the long jump you use sort of the same motions as the pole vault, but with things like the high jump it is completely different."

For Tsiknas working on heptathlon and pentathlon will benefit the team, but they are also events that she is excited to compete in.

"It's kind of nice," she said. "It's definitely what is best for the team, but it's also going to be a lot of fun. I'm excited."