Getting To Know Allie Jones

Graduate transfer Allie Jones comes to USC from Stanford where she is the school's heptathlon record holder. Last season, Jones won the Pac-12 heptathlon title, while placing fourth at the NCAA Championships in the event. Jones is just as talented in the classroom where she is working on getting a masters in Health Care Administration.
 
CG: What initially brought you to USC?
 
AJ: Well, for me, when I was trying to find my grad program and where I was going to go, I knew I wanted to get an MHA, which is a Master of Healthcare Administration. With that, it kind of cuts down the schools already by a lot because there's only like 25–30 in the country. When you cross reference good track schools, it's a pretty short list. USC brought the best of both worlds: good school and great track. That's what I wanted out of it.
 
CG: What were the determining factors that made you pick USC?
 
AJ: I really liked the coaches here. That is what drew me in. Being close to home; I'm from Santa Barbara, and so it's a real easy hour and a half drive up north instead of across the country with Florida. I think it was a little bit of a leap of faith. I didn't take a visit here, or anywhere really. So, I was hoping for the best and it has turned out good.
 
CG: When did you start reaching out to USC and expressing interest?
 
AJ: I knew pretty early on that I was going to transfer. I spoke with the Stanford coaches, kind of in December of my senior year, and I entered the portal that fall. After that, the portal is like this crazy black box that you don't really know what it is. But then, you can have different [preferences], say like, "Oh, I want coaches to reach out to me," or "I only want to reach out to coaches." So, at first, all the coaches could reach out to me, and it was very overwhelming. Which, I'm very grateful for that, but I was like, "Oh my gosh, I don't know." Then I was getting DMs and I was thinking, "This is hard." Then I switched it, and then that's when I started reaching out to specific coaches. I think it was November-ish because I submitted my application on December 15 for here.
 
CG: Did you have any familiarity with USC before making the jump and deciding to come here?
 
AJ:  I mean, I always have seen them at track meets. I saw them win the national championship. They were always around. And like, growing up close by, I would go to football games when I was younger.
 
CG: With this being your second semester here, do you feel sort of settled in and everything? Like you have your spots on campus and around the area that you feel, not to be cliché, but at home?
 
AJ: I definitely have found where I fit in and who I hang out with. I have an established group, which is great. I definitely want to explore more of L.A. I haven't really gotten, a great grasp on that. I do love Manhattan Beach. My sister is in L.A. too, so it's been kind of nice to have her [here], like if I want to go have a home cooked meal. It was definitely hard at first coming to a new school, just having four years of experience somewhere else. I left Stanford not feeling like a freshman at all. I had a great grasp on the school, the team, the coaches, all the athletic trainers I knew. But here I was, like, oh, you're a freshman again. It was such a weird, juxtaposition between these freshmen feelings, but I have all this experience of doing track at this level. It's just a hard thing to balance and kind of finding myself on the team is getting comfortable on the team.
 
CG: Did your older sister [being in L.A.] help sway your decision toward USC?
 
AJ: Yeah, for sure. I have two older sisters, one is in San Diego and one is in L.A. It was definitely a big factor. I thought that I could hang out with them super easily., so just having that accessibility to them was definitely a factor.
 
CG: How has the adjustment process been going from the senior at Stanford back to getting acclimated to everything? How long has it taken for you to get settled in and comfortable?
 
AJ: Honestly, a lot longer than I thought it was going to take. Just naturally as who I am, I kind of take a little bit to get comfortable enough to show my true personality. I think I start out pretty reserved and quiet, so I think it probably took the majority of the first semester just to really get my footing. I'm still learning things and still getting more comfortable as we go and as we're traveling more and hanging out with the team. I think it was interesting and kind of a hard thing too, because I wanted to mentor these freshmen, and they had all questions, but I was thinking I'm still figuring this out, too. I didn't want to be too "know-it-all-y," if that makes sense. I was still learning, obviously. And I'm still learning. I've only done this for my fifth year, but it doesn't feel like that. Yeah, I would say, first semester, it kind of took some time [to get settled in].
 
CG: How has the MHA program gone so far?
 
AJ: It's really good. I like it. It's academically challenging enough, but I'm not too stressed about work. It's just been great to meet all these people that have similar interests. It's been cool. I really like it.
 
CG: Outside of the MHA and track, do you have any free time for hobbies that you had back at Stanford or new ones in Los Angeles?
 
AJ: I like to go to the beach a lot. Hang out with friends and family. I love exploring coffee shops. That's one of my favorite things to do. When I lived in Boston for a summer, I would just go to different coffee shop every day, and I was working remotely, so I just set up my shop and worked. I definitely liked doing that on the weekends, when I have homework.I want to get a cat. That's what I want for next year.

CG: Are you a pet person?
 
AJ: I love my dog, I have a really cute dog named Honey. She's the best. She's a golden retriever. Yeah, I love cats, too.
 
CG: Do you have any pre-meet or pre-practice rituals to help you get in the mindset or for good luck?
 
AJ: Yeah, because my event, I am only really doing it two to three times a season before Nationals. At normal meets, it's very low key for me. Or at least for me, it feels like just another day of practice, because I'm not like having to [think] like, "Oh, this is my time if I don't hit it now." But when it's a multi-meet, that's when it gets a lot more serious and stressful. I always have really high expectations for myself. I think before a multi meet I always write down each event that I'm doing, the order, a goal for that event, and then three cues for that event. And it's weird, but I just put it on the pillow next to me and I sleep next to it. I don't know, I think the power of osmosis, it's going to help me or something…but I've always done that. Yeah, I don't know. I don't think I have too many crazy rituals. I always wear black socks. I wouldn't even say it was [I did well] because I wore black socks. I just think the white socks get dirty in the sand. I like having socks that don't get dirty, I guess. I always have a Pedialyte too.
 
CG: You said you wrote down goals the night before, what are some of those goals heading into a meet or overall heading into this spring season?
 
AJ: I think for this spring, I guess this sounds bad, but I've never pictured myself as being able to become a national champion, just because there's so many great girls. I was always up in the mix, but not first place. I think this year is the first time that I'm thinking I actually have the opportunity to win. If I put together a meet, it would have to be perfect, or damn near, but it's totally doable. I haven't really said it out loud, but that that's the goal. I would say that would be a very high goal of getting in at indoors, but number wise, I think I want to score like 4300+. So that's for indoor. Then, for outdoors in the 100m hurdles I would like to go sub 13, I'd like to go 1.74m again in the HJ, have a shot put of 13-plus and I wan to run 23.7 in the 200m.
 
CG: If you had to talk to another prospective transfer student coming to USC, what would you tell them?
 
AJ: I think I would tell them that, one, it's going to be hard. It's not the easiest thing in the world to do, but it's definitely worth it, being able to have these different perspectives and these different experiences, just coming from one school to the next, or in different programs, and just different people, meeting new people. It's a great opportunity. I think if you have the chance and have the eligibility, unless you're in love with that school, I think it's always cool to transfer. Try something new, take a leap of faith, and hope for the best.