Name: Camille Blackman
Sport: Indoor track
School: Longmeadow
Class: Senior
Age: 17
Height: 5-feet-1
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
2011-12 stats: Placed eighth at New England meet in 2 mile; finished fifth in 2 mile at All-State meet despite being sick; took third in 2 mile at Division III state meet; won mile at PVIAC championship meet; easily went undefeated during PVIAC regular season.
School records: Mile, 2 mile and 4x800 records for indoor track; Western Massachusetts meet and Longmeadow course records for cross country; mile and 2 mile records for outdoor track.
Athletic awards: Four-time Republican All-Scholastic first team pick for indoor track and cross country; three-time first team selection for outdoor track; 2011 Republican Athlete of the Year for cross country.
Academic awards: High honors student
School clubs: National Honor Society; Key Club
Future plans: Will run cross country at Northwestern University on a partial athletic scholarship
FAVORITES/INTERESTS
Music group: Muse
Food: Popcorn
Subject: Biology and English
Teacher: Mr. Mucci (high school music teacher)
Athlete: Kara Goucher
Sport: Cross country
Pre-meet habit: Eats a peanut butter and banana sandwich, and wears lucky hair tie and socks
WHAT CAMILLE BLACKMAN HAD TO SAY:
Her most satisfying performance of the season was: "Winning the 1,000 at one of the PVIAC meets. I ran a 3:04. I was surprised because I had never run the 1,000 and I was running just for fun."
General comment on the season: "It wasn't my greatest season. I had a lot of schoolwork and was really tired and sick. But, overall, I'm happy how much I moved up in preparation for outdoor track, and I'm really excited for outdoor now.
For outdoor track, Blackman hopes to: "break the five-minute mark in the mile, and get even lower in the 2 mile (10:52)."
WHAT ASSISTANT COACH DIANE TASLITT HAD TO SAY:
On what makes Blackman so good: "She's driven. That sounds so cliché, but she is. She's very goal-oriented, and she bounces back from disappointments. If she sets a goal and doesn't meet it, she's upset but then she figures out what she needs to do and gets on with it."
On Blackman's career: "She's been a pleasure to coach her entire career because she's one of those kids who came in with talent, but she progressed in a natural, steady way. She chipped away at her times."
On her relationship with Blackman: "She really takes direction well. Camille is open-minded and takes feedback so well, which makes her incredibly coachable."