For the better part of two seasons, sophomore Monique Felix has been breaking school record after school record, and not just in one event, either. Felix has dominated the field in numerous events and holds program top-10 marks in the heptathlon, long jump, triple jump and 100-meter hurdles.
This past weekend at Southeast Missouri State University, Felix set a personal best in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.58 seconds, which was good enough for seventh-best all-time in the event. Additionally, Felix set another program mark in the triple jump with a jump of 39 feet, 10.75 inches, good enough for the third-best mark all-time in that event.
Head coach Bert Rogers said qualifying for nationals in both the pentathlon and heptathlon is a possibility.
“For someone to qualify to nationals in the multi-events at the NCAA DI level is quite a feat,” Rogers said. “It basically means that you are competing at a world-class level. Monique has the ability to be that.”
Although she has set program records, it has not always been easy for Felix. During this past BIG EAST Conference meet, many members of the team became ill with a bout of food poisoning. She had to fill in for multiple people and compete in events that she may not have otherwise.
“I feel like it added even more pressure to the meet because we won the outdoor as well, so we had a target on our backs and the illnesses were going around,” Felix said. “We knew that Omo (Tseumah) was out, and so we knew we needed to step up together. And we all did a fantastic job, and despite all of our obstacles, we still came out and won.”
The day of the meet, Felix is all business. While she is all about cheering her teammates on, she mainly focuses on her events because the team is very strong at the senior level. Coach Rogers is not worried because he knows Felix will step up in the near future.
“She is certainly very supportive of her teammates and cheers them on, but we have such strong leadership in our current seniors that Mo is able to go about her business, work and compete hard and lead by example. She is definitely one we will look to in the coming years and I have no doubt will be a great leader for us.”
In the meantime, Felix will continue to keep an all-business mentality and strive for another BIG EAST team title. Her goal is simple: go about her business and get better day by day.
“One of my favorite sayings is ‘today I’ll do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can do what they can’t.’ And to me, knowing all of those hard workouts and my dedication, at the end of the day, it will set me apart.”
