Meet Alabama Sprinter Tadashi Pinder
4/14/2016 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field, Cross Country
Q: How did you end up in the USA from the Bahamas?
A: "I was very young. I was born in the Bahamas and I came here when I was five or six years old. I was raised in Atlanta, and grew up there up through high school. From there, I went to Virginia Tech straight out of high school, and then to Alabama."
Q: Tell me about your background, and how you ended up at Alabama.
A: "I transferred after I finished up my sophomore year at Virginia Tech. I was recruited by Coach (Matt) Kane; he's gone now so now I have a new coach. I'm now being coached by Coach Dion Miller and seeing tremendous success. It's my second year here, I love it here. I feel like it's very competitive. My transition here was pretty rough, but it's my second year and I've gotten the hang of the system and how things are run here. I'm excited to see how the season ends."
Q: This week has been an off week; how do you spend this week with so much free time?
A: "My week off, I've been training hard since we don't have to run this week. We've been training a lot harder, trying to hit the weights a little bit harder. We've been putting in a lot of work so we can rest next week and try and drop a faster time. On a week off, you just want to go a little bit harder since you don't have to compete that week and you know you can rest up the following week and get ready for competitions again."
Q: So you have no off days?
A: "No, no off days."
Q: What are you the most excited about for the SEC Championships in May?
A: "I think I can win it. I hope we can win it as a team, too. I think I can win my event, I think we can win as a team, especially with it being here. I have a lot of people coming (to watch). So, I'm excited to just being able to run in front of all my friends and family. I hope to win it in front of them, to just win it in front of a home crowd. It would be great."
Q: Do you have a lot of family coming out to see you compete during the SEC's?
A: "I have a lot of family coming out. Most of my immediate family that I am still close with will be there, and a lot of my friends from Atlanta will be coming. My best friend and his parents are coming, so I will have a lot of family here."
