Texas graduate has continued to progress following NCAA finals, with international experiences in past month demonstrating she is ready to handle challenges ahead in both 100 and 200 meters in Des Moines

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Teahna Daniels might not have had the jaw-dropping moment at the NCAA Division 1 Outdoor Championships like Sha’Carri Richardson did, when the LSU sprinter and newly signed Nike professional set the collegiate record in the 100-meter dash.

Nor did the Texas graduate experience the euphoria of capturing a second career national title like USC’s Angie Annelus did in the 200 meters.

Daniels was hoping to deliver the memorable moment of winning an NCAA championship in front of the home crowd in June at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, but those accolades went to Longhorn teammates Ashtin Zamzow in the heptathlon and Adrian Piperi in the shot put.

But what Daniels did during her final collegiate meet, and what the 22-year-old talent has continued to do since transitioning to the professional ranks and signing with Nike, is demonstrate the necessary consistency to put herself in contention in both the 100 and 200 at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, the selection meet for the IAAF World Championships in September and October in Doha, Qatar.

Daniels has benefited from the experience and guidance of first-year Texas coach Edrick Floreal, who also trains a group of professional athletes in Austin, including Keni Harrison, Jenna Prandini, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, Kori Carter and Sha’Keela Saunders, among others.

“The key to my consistency has to be listening to Flo,” Daniels said. “He’s a very smart man and understands this sport all the way through, so I knew going into this season that the end goal is to be on the World Championship team, which is a lot later in the year than usual, and he based our training around that.”

Daniels has already captured a gold medal for the U.S. in the 100-meter dash by running a wind-aided 11.03 seconds July 5 at the North American Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) U-23 Championships in Queretaro, Mexico.

She has also secured a berth on the American roster for the Pan American Games, which feature track and field competition Aug. 6-10 in Lima, Peru.

Now, she’s looking to add to her growing resume by qualifying individually or as part of the 4x100 relay pool for the American roster competing at the World Championships.

Daniels has already won World U-20 gold in 2014 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., as well as a Pan American U-20 title in 2015 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, competing for the U.S. on the 4x100 relay.

“When I received my first international gold medal I felt a sense a pride,” Daniels said. “Being able to represent my country again, and to win the gold in an individual event at NACAC, it made me reminiscent of the joy I had when I received a gold in 2014 at World Juniors in Eugene.”

In addition to competing for the U.S. U-23 national team in Mexico, Daniels has also raced in a pair of Diamond League meets, placing third June 30 in the 100 in 11.13 seconds in her professional debut at the Prefontaine Classic at Stanford.

She then traveled to Europe for the first time in her career to compete July 12 in the 200 in Monaco, finishing fourth in a wind-legal 22.59 seconds, with the three athletes in front of her – Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas, Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson and Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands – all either World champions, Olympic gold medalists, or both.

“My experience in Monaco was life changing,” Daniels said. “It showed me that I can compete at this level on that stage with some of the best athletes in the world.

“I am pretty familiar with training with high-level athletes and having a coach with experience and knowledge for the sport. Having Flo and the other professionals around every day has been extremely beneficial to my current success. Flo and the others have treated me like a professional since the day they came to Texas. I have applied everything that they have told me into my every day and competition routine.”

Daniels achieved wind-legal personal bests of 10.99 in the 100 and 22.51 in the 200 at the NCAA West Regionals in May in Sacramento, before placing fourth in the 100 in 11.00 and fifth in the 200 in 22.62 at the Division 1 final June 8 in Austin. She is seeded among the top 10 entries in both events in Des Moines.

When she competes Thursday in the 100 prelims, it will mark the 42nd race in the past eight months for Daniels. But despite it being her longest season since 2015, Daniels had showed no signs of slowing down, knowing there’s at least one more meet, and potentially more still to come.

“Practice has been focused more on technique and less specific event training. What we do prepares me for both events, however I did use Monaco to gauge where I am in the 200 on the world stage,” Daniels said. “I was very excited when I found out I was running in Monaco. After nationals, I knew this was a meet I wanted to compete in. I am prepared to run any race my coach sees beneficial to my career and success.”

Floreal has guided Carter to a 2017 World Championship gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles and Harrison to a 2018 World Indoor title in the 60-meter hurdles, along with helping Camacho-Quinn win a pair of NCAA crowns in the 100-meter hurdles while coaching at Kentucky.

But Floreal also knows the disappointment of having elite athletes he’s coached not qualify for a U.S. national team or miss out on achieving a medal at an international meet. In both cases, the lessons Floreal has learned have been and will continue to be valuable for Daniels not only at nationals, but as her professional career continues to unfold.

“Ideally, for me, it’s just to keep them on task,” Floreal said. “Right now, I don’t care about the finals, I just care about the prelims. You’ve got to get out of the prelims, before we can even talk about the finals. I tell them not to think about your strategy or the person next to you, just make one run at a time and just focus on your own lane. If people do the exact the same things that got them here, they usually end up being very successful.”

Daniels has already stood tall against some of the elite sprinters in the world this year. With some of the most significant races of her young career in front of Daniels at Drake Stadium this weekend, she’s ready to embrace the opportunities in order to create even bigger moments in the future.

“I’ve been preparing for this moment my whole life,” Daniels said. “I’m ready for the challenges ahead.”