Friday the 13th is a lucky day for Jamie Hagiya.
Friday, Day 1 of the 2015 California Regional, marked the first day Hagiya saw her name at the top of the leaderboard after a full day of competition (Hagiya was tied for first place with Lauren Fisher, each with 160 points).
“I know the first day means nothing,” Hagiya said, “but I’ve never been (in first) before. It was cool,” she said.
This year is Hagiya’s fourth time competing at the California Regional, but she has yet to qualify for the Games. She’s been close. She took fifth in 2013 and 2014 when only three individuals qualified and then, in 2014, disaster struck.
Hagiya, a former collegiate basketball player at the University of Southern California, tore her Achilles after the California Regional. That meant she only had about three or four months to train for the 2015 Regional, which resulted in a 20th-place finish.
“I wasn’t ready, physically or mentally,” she said about last year.
This year is different, and it shows.
After two days of competition, Hagiya has shown the type of consistency needed to qualify for the Games, turning in mostly top-10 finishes.
Before she started Event 3, Hagiya said she was considering holding back on the 104 wall-ball shots and 52 pull-ups in order to perform better on Event 4 (which followed one minute after Event 3), but that changed once she stepped on the floor.
“You can’t give up anything when the points are so close,” Hagiya said, “you can’t give anything away. That was such a mental (challenge),” she said about the event.
In Event 4, 4 rounds of 28 pistols and 15 power cleans, Hagiya found herself chasing former Games champion Kristan Clever.
“She’s so good,” Hagiya said about Clever. “What’s funny is not too long ago I worked out with (Clever) and we did something similar. (She just has) that mental push, (she) can grind through,” Hagiya said.
Hagiya took sixth in Event 4, pushing her down to second place as she went into Event 5, the final event of Day 2.
A 13th place on Event 5 pushed Hagiya into third place overall.
“Definitely (Event 5) is taxing on the legs, back … everywhere,” Hagiya said.
Whatever happens tomorrow, Hagiya said the difference between this year and her previous regional appearances is simple.
“I’m more relaxed all around,” Hagiya said. “With nutrition, with training, with life—I’m more balanced."
For Hagiya, balance means having a cookie every now and then, or occasionally prioritizing fun over training.
This sense of balance doesn’t mean Hagiya isn’t determined to finally qualify for the Games.
“It would mean the world to me” she said about qualifying for the Games in this, her fourth attempt. “I just want to make it one year.”
