Bickett had the top mark in the NCAA discus last season (MGoBlue.com)

1. Heading into the 2002 NCAA Outdoor Championships, you had the top mark in the discus but only finished 11th overall. Although it is still a great finish, what was your goal heading into the meet and how will you manage to overcome any mistakes?

My goal heading into the meet was to finish as an all-American and to make it to the finals. I tend to be a "finals" thrower and my best throws come in my last three tosses. Next year, I plan on training myself to throw one of my best distances in the preliminaries. I need to not be so cautious and to realize one or two fouls are not the end of the world. I was super cautious at NCAA's and did not let my full potential come through because my freshman year I fouled twice at NCAA's and that extremely pressured me for my final throw.

2. Your mark of 186'05" in the discus not only won the Penn Relays but also set a Michigan school record as well. Your previous best before that throw was 171'09" set at the Mt. Sac Relays. What kind of technical improvements did you make during the 2002 season?

This last year I worked on power position and pushing myself into getting both feet down sooner. I used to let the discus get ahead of my feet and then that would throw off my low point and cause me to throw really high. More power is also created when both feet are on the ground for a longer period of time. I always try to work on smoothness, speed, and the basics because a stronger base of technique lets you throw further on even bad days.

3. The discus is an event that takes a lot of time and hard work in order to fully understand it. How long did it take you to grow and become comfortable with the event?

I started competing in the discus in seventh grade and my father was my coach. Before that though, I helped my older brother practice with my dad and would try to throw the discus when I was in 5th-6th grade. Discus is an easy event to become comfortable with, but I am still growing. I became comfortable with discus my freshman year because I made the decision to quit softball and to only practice throwing. Ever since I have started throwing I have improved every year and plan on improving for some years to come.

Bickett was honored at Michigan stadium for her Pan Am Junior title in the discus (Jim Bickett)

4. Your current coach Anne Takacs-Grieb also has Big 10 ties as she competed during her collegiate career at Ohio State. How has her experience and expertise in the throwing events helped you to where you are today?

Coach Takacs has been an immense help to me in throwing and especially the discus and shot put. She used to spin in the shot put and taught me to spin when I came to college. Most people said I would never throw shot put over 50' but with her help I did my sophomore year of college. In the discus, she takes extra time to work with me almost everyday. Coach Takacs is also extremely intelligent. She graduated from OSU as a chemical engineer and this helps her in understanding the physics and harder scientific theories of throwing. She also never let my size (5'6" 150lbs) be an indicator of my potential for throwing.

5. How did you prepare yourself heading into training for the upcoming 2002-03 seasons?

I have started heavier and harder weightlifting than any year before. I do Olympic and machine weightlifting every week. My team is in conditioning right now so sprints and running are daily activities, but I also swim on my own. University of Michigan has the fifth largest stadium in the world and we run the steps once or twice a week for speed and strength.

6. Do you spend much time on the Internet researching and exploring track & field results to see how your competitors are doing?

During track season I check the NCAA listings almost daily and I go to other university's websites to check on the status of other throwers once a month. Also, my coaches print off the national's rankings and post them on the corkboard outside the locker room to remind everyone they need to work harder and improve.

7. How much during the indoor season do you practice the discus considering you have the weight throw and shot put to focus on as well?

I start practicing discus in January. This gives me a two month berth of starting off with the basics and working my way up to full throws. Usually during January I am only doing standing throws and drills into a net that is in the corner of our track. Indoor season is easy compared to outdoor because for outdoor I compete in four events and indoor is only two. Indoor provides me with the extra time to practice for discus and occasionally javelin.

8. I noticed that you also competed in the javelin a couple times during the season as well. Is the javelin an event you want to focus on more this season?

The javelin is an event that I practice to hopefully score a point during Big Ten Championships. I had a personal record of 135 feet at Big Ten's last year and everyone has to make choices of what events to focus on and practice more. 135 feet is not far enough for me to dedicate more than one and half hour a week to practice. Maybe this year I'll try throwing javelin at more meets, but javelin also hurts my back occasionally.

9. What do you enjoy the most when you are not competing in the ring?

I enjoy hanging out with my friends. Most of the time we just get together at a house and I'll cook a huge dinner. We will sit and watch TV or just laugh at the day's events. My friends will clean the dishes when we are done and we will go out to a coffee shop and do homework. Sometimes on the weekends we like to go out to the clubs and go dancing. I enjoy getting dressed up and go dancing because during the normal week I wear practice clothes and sweatpants.

10. What can the sport of track & field do better to market it more to the general public?

This summer I went to a target events meet that USATF held in an attempt to better market certain events, but no one came to watch the small field of five throwers in the women's discus. I was informed of this meet two weeks before I was flown out to Mt. SAC and I had already stopped practicing for the summer, but I decided to still go. The meet was very quiet and simple. I think the sport track and field need to get people more pumped up about track meets and the athletes. Most of the general public watches TV and any sport that wants viewer ship have commercials. Nike has track commercials showing clothes or shoes, but the commercials need to market for viewer ship of the track meets in general.