In sports, there will always be room for improvement.
Winning back-to-back NCAA Indoor shot put titles doesn't mean you are the best, it only means you have to work harder and you have to get better.
UF junior Mariam Kevkhishvili, the two-time defending NCAA champion at shot put, takes this mentality into each competition. Despite her constant success, she manages to keep her humble attitude and does not get caught in the hoopla surrounding rankings and the Southeastern Conference weekly honors she has earned.
"I think every competition is different, it doesn't matter how people (are) ranking before. I just want to improve myself." Kevkhishvili said. "Even right now, I don't feel like I'm the best, I need to work harder."
Coach Mike Holloway admires Kevkhishvili's hardworking attitude and credits her success to that attitude.
"She's a perfectionist, and she works every day to get better," Holloway said. "That's why she's great. That's why she's (the) NCAA champion."
Kevkhishvili will use her desire to improve and her indoor season success to fuel her during the outdoor season, which begins this weekend in Orlando for UF.
"I'm so ready for the outdoor season," Kevkhishvili said. "Track is more outdoor, so it's more exciting."
As UF's women kick off the outdoor season in the UCF Black and Gold Challenge, Kevkhishvili will not be in Orlando competing. Instead, she will be in Gainesville, enjoying three well-deserved weekends off from competition as Holloway decided to rest her.
Kevkhishvili's absence means UF's women will be without their most productive athlete, the reigning SEC Indoor Field Athlete of the Year, and the two-time NCAA Indoor champion.
However, if the UF women who go to Orlando focus on putting in hard work to get better, as Kevkhishvili does, they should do well in their outdoor season opener and when Kevkhishvili returns, she will fit right in with the other successful women on her team who are trying to get better.
