Junior, Evan Khoo recently over the summer competed at the United States of America Track & Field Junior Olympic nationals in Sacramento, Cal. He placed second in the hammer throw and shot put and placed seventh in the discus throw in his age group. 

Sam Ford: What did you do to get the opportunity to compete at nationals and what did that look like? 

Evan Khoo: I had to compete at the state and regional levels. State you have to place in the top five to move on to Regionals. Regionals are kind of consistent within the four states, and when you compete you must place in the top three to qualify for nationals.

SF: Can you explain what the national JO meet was?

EK: It was the national JO meet against every state in the country, and each kid that qualified from each state would compete in their age group.

SF: How was this meet different from other big meets? 

EK: It’s different because it’s definitely more important, and you have to earn your way up to it and qualify and work for it and be at the top of your region and compete at the national level.

SF: Can you tell me a little bit about the JO meet?

EK: It was a pretty good meet with lots of competition, but you gotta fight through and make it to the top and just do your best.

SF: What was it like being there at nationals?

EK: It was fun, kinda nervous, but I’ve been to a bunch of big meets before, so I was steady, and I had to do what I had to do. I couldn’t be nervous or anything, I just had to go for it.

SF: How did you get to the level that you’re at? 

EK: Just by training hard and putting all of my free time into lifting and throwing and just getting those marks.

SF: How did you start throwing? 

EK: I started at a very young age like when I was eight with my dad and his track club and went from there into school and kept working on technique and kept progressing as I got older and just kept throwing and throwing and became really good for me.

SF: How does it feel knowing that you’re second in the nation for hammer throw and shot put?

EK: It felt great. I was close to getting first. Me and that guy were very close going back and forth, but it was definitely a huge accomplishment and I’m proud of myself.

SF: What did you learn from this experience?

EK: I learned I had to train harder and that there’s a lot of competition out there and that you could be up there at first and quickly be knocked down. You have to come back from it.

SF: What can you bring to the team for the upcoming season after this experience?

EK: I know I can bring a lot, definitely working harder and hopefully win state this year for the school and really working on my technique and strength and using some energy off the other players.

Khoo learned a lot about experience at the United States of America Track & Field Junior Olympic National Championship. He learned about discipline, doing what it takes to win, and the intensity of the competition. Evan has already improved in his shot put throw by eight feet. He hopes to become a promising aspect for the upcoming season.