ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico – One year ago, Jasmyn Steels walked into the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships as something of an unknown.
 
She walked out with a new identity – national long jump champion.
 
When the indoor national long jump competition begins at approximately 7:55 p.m. Friday inside the Albuquerque Convention Center, Steels will be there, set to prove a point.
 
"I won one time, and I'd like to do it again," said Steels, Northwestern State's standout senior from College Station, Texas, who followed up her 2019 indoor national championship with a runner-up finish at the 2019 national outdoor championships.
 
"I am one of the bigger competitors, and I'm not scared."
 
A year ago, Steels had the ninth-longest jump entering the competition. This year, her season best of 21-2 at the Houston G5 & Super 22 Invitational on Jan. 31 stands seventh nationally.
 
Although it has been more than a month since Steels hit her biggest jump of the season, both Steels and her head coach feel another huge jump is in her future.
 
"I expect a big jump," coach Mike Heimerman said. "She's her hardest critic. She wants to do a lot. She had a phenomenal breakout year last year. This year, she's had a bull's-eye on her back. She wants to show last year wasn't a fluke."
 
Despite fighting weather that kept Steels and her teammates struggling to find normal training times, she said she feels right on schedule for another big national performance.
 
"It has been really tough," Steels said. "I've found my rhythm. It's been really weird. I've been struggling with my push a little bit, but now we've got the rhythm down. It's taken all indoor season, but we've got it. It's time to go."
 
Steels said one thing she would take from her twin national championship experiences in 2019 was the knowledge of what to do in those situations.
 
Heimerman stressed the additional importance of assistant coach Tyron Stewart, who coaches the Northwestern State jumpers.
 
"Coach Stewart has been on the national and global stage as a professional jumper," Heimerman said. "What he has done a really good job with Jasmyn, and really spreading it to the rest of our team, is keeping them calm. You can never be successful if you get frustrated and aggravated. You have to have a calm, level head, and that's when big things happen. Jasmyn's living proof of that."
 
A year after dealing with a slight case of nerves ahead of her first national championship appearance, Steels will attempt to channel a different type of emotion in her quest to repeat.
 
"I have been a little more excited this year," she said. "I was a little jittery to get going (last year). I'm going to take that mellow, relaxed me, that confident me (into this year). I know what I need to do."
 
Order    Name    Year       School  Mark
1              Kreete Verlin     Jr.           Washington State            6.32m (20-9)
2              Deboara Acquah               Jr.           Texas A&M         6.58m (21-7.75)
3              Destiny Longmire             Sr.           TCU        6.40m (21-0)
4              Khyasia Caldwell               So.          Virginia 6.29m (20-7.75)
5              Mercy Abire       Sr.           LSU        6.44m (21-1.5)
6              Monae' Nichols Jr.           Bethune-Cookman          6.44m (21-1.5)
7              Jasmine Moore Fr.           Georgia 6.47m (21-2.75)
8              Ruth Usoro         Jr.           Texas Tech          6.57m (21-6.75)
9              Tyra Gittens       Jr.           Texas A&M         6.42m (21-0.75)
10           Rhesa Foster      Sr.           Oregon 6.57m (21-6.75)
11           G'Auna Edwards               So.          Arkansas              6.34m (20-9.75)
12           Taishia Pryce      Jr.           Kansas State       6.65m (21-10)
13           Jada Seaman      Fr.           Virginia 6.46m (21-2.5)
14           Essence Thomas               Jr.           Oklahoma           6.32m (20-9)
15           Nadia Williams   Sr.           Central Michigan              6.43m (21-1.25)
16           Jasmyn Steels    Sr.           Northwestern State        6.45m (21-2)