University of Minnesota Athletics
Warm-Up Lap: Q&A with Agnes Esser
3/6/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
By Jordyn Anderson, Athletic Communications Student Intern
MINNEAPOLIS -- McBride, British Columbia native Agnes Esser is coming off an outstanding indoor season during which she collected All-Big Ten Conference Second Team accolades with a runner-up finish in the weight throw at the B1G indoor championships. She also recorded a career-best throw of 20.94m (68-08.50) to place her second among all-time Gophers.
The junior thrower is gearing up for the outdoor season where she will participate in the discus and hammer throw. Last spring, Esser advanced to the NCAA West Prelim in both the discus and hammer throw, and she placed 15th in discus at the NCAA Championship. She also holds Minnesota's program record in the discus. Esser also is a USTFCCCA All-Academic team and Academic All-Big Ten honoree in recognition of her performance in the classroom.
Gophersports.com caught up with the thrower to talk about this last indoor season, what she is looking forward to for this upcoming outdoor season, and which event she loves more, hammer throw or discus.
Gopher Sports: How does it feel to have had such a strong indoor season this year?
Agnes Esser: It feels really good. There is a lot less stress overall because I did not have to deal with all of my family issues, and I was able to focus more on training. There was no lingering in the back of my mind that I might have to go home all of the sudden. It was a lot easier for me to concentrate on my training.
GS: What are you most looking forward to for the outdoor season, and what goals have you set for yourself?
AE: I'm really excited. Similar to indoor, I don't have all of my family stuff I need to worry about. We have been making a lot of gains, and I think I'll be able to start where I left off last year. I'd like to medal at Big Tens. I'd also like to make the national meet in both events as well, which I think is attainable for me. Postseason, I'm interested in making some Canadian national teams, which would be fun.
GS: You were named Second Team All-American last spring, what kind of training and preparation goes into training to throw your best and peak at the right time?
AE: Confidence, I would say, was my biggest thing. I came into this indoor season knowing I could throw far. Coach Miller and I had talks where he said, "We can train you, and you can throw really far this year." At the beginning of the year, I wouldn't say I was afraid, but I didn't quite have the confidence. We had a talk after our travel trip, which really built my confidence up.
GS: What keeps you motivated to keep doing your best and keep improving?
AE: Love for the sport. I really enjoy throwing. It is kind-of a weird thing to get into; it's a niche sport, but I'm a niche person and I fell in there. It has helped me build a friendship base and has helped me come out of my shell.
GS: Weight throw, discus, or hammer throw: Which one is your favorite?
AE: Tough choice. Weight throw is indoor, so it is the third favorite. What I like to think of with discus and hammer is that I am married to discus -- I love it and it has been there since the beginning -- but hammer is like my best friend. It's very hard to pick between the two, especially on any given day, like if hammer is going really well and discus isn't, then obviously I'm going to like hammer at the moment and vice versa.
GS: What was it like to compete at the NACAC U23 Championship this past summer and represent Canada?
AE: It was fun. I didn't have a lot of expectations going into the meet. I wanted to make a national meet, but it was at the way end of my season and it had been a very tiring year for me. I just went there to have fun and get more reps in. It was almost like a practice national team and meet for me. I want to continue to get my name out there so people can see that I am still interested in making a national team.
GS: You are currently sitting at number two on Minnesota's all-time top-ten indoor performances list in the weight throw after your runner-up performance at Big Tens. How does that feel?
AE: To be honest, I didn't know that I was that close. I read the article that said I was Second Team All-Big Ten, and it said I was five inches away from the school record. I thought I was a lot further away. It is exciting. I guess that puts the record a bit on the radar for me next year along with nationals for indoor, but we'll see how things go.
GS: Do you have any pre-meet rituals? What's your warm up like?
AE: Not particularly, I eat a lot of fruit snacks before, so I guess you could kind-of consider that a pre-meet ritual but at the same time it's not one because I don't need a fruit snack before, I just usually have a lot of fruit snacks around. Dancing too, I guess, and just staying super loose and not thinking about the throws as much before [I compete] is something else I do.
GS: What is your favorite kind of fruit snacks?
AE: Welch's.
GS: What is your favorite thing about being a part of the Minnesota women's track & field team?
AE: Being part of the throws team, it's a really fun team and we are always doing stuff together. We are all really good friends, so we aren't just togther in practice. We'll be together outside of that. Most of us live together, and we go to Applebee's a lot too. It is like a family environment, especially among the throwers; it is like that among the whole team as well, but us throwers are very close.
GS: Have any favorite memories?
AE: One that sticks out but isn't necessarily a favorite memory, it's just a silly thing that keeps on coming up. At one meet last year, we all had a very bad first throw and me, trying to stay happy and light, said, "Oh, it's okay everyone, the first one is the first one, don't worry about it." Everyone agreed with me and just shook it off, then my one teammate noticed that obviously the first one is the first one, it is a very redundant thing to say. So, from then on whenever we had a bad first throw, we would just laugh it off and say, "The first one is the first one."
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Players Mentioned
