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“Once you start changing your mind and believing in yourself and becoming your best and biggest cheerleader. Everything else falls into place,” said new Missouri State Assistant Track Coach Carmelita Jeter.
That approach combined with years of hard work, and a special level of talent has allowed Jeter to achieve elite level success in the sport of track and field. She’s bringing those experiences to the Bears.
“Because I was an athlete at the top of my game, I know what worked, I know what didn’t work. I know the energy that I loved, I know what I didn’t like and that’s what I’m bringing to Missouri State,” said Jeter.
It’s also part of what brought the former Olympic and World Champion from California to Springfield; knowing MSU would give her the freedom to employ her coaching style.
“I knew I would be able to be in a program that would let me be myself, and would let me do my thing,” said Jeter.
For Bears Head Coach Jordan Fife, there was no hesitation when he heard about the chance to bring Jeter on board.
“You know I got an email the day she kind of reached out, and they said ‘what do you want to do with this?’ And I said well I’ll call her right now,” said Fife.
That phone call has proven to be a benefit to everyone involved as Jeter focuses on the sprinters and hurdlers while Fife continues to work with the distance team.
“To have somebody of her caliber, of her skill set and knowledge to kind of run the show with the rest of the group there, it really makes my job a lot easier,” said Fife.
Jeter says she made it a point to meet with all of the distance runners as well to show them that she is there to coach and support them too.
While her presence makes life easier for Fife, it won’t necessarily make things easier for the athletes, whose new coach is hoping to help them reach some pretty lofty goals.
“My mindset is I want you to be better than me, I want you to run faster than me. I want to be the piece to that puzzle,” said Jeter. “Now, I want to be the person who coaches the person who runs faster than me, let me just say that. Let’s put that out there.”
And Fife says only good can come from that attitude.
“If you’re with her for even five minutes, you can pick up on her personality, how positive she is, how confident she is as we go along, and that can only be helpful.”
Jeter’s 100-meter time of 10.64 seconds makes her the second-fastest woman ever behind Florence Griffith-Joyner.
