I had the privilege of teaching Trinity Spooner before she became a star athlete at Louisiana’s flagship university after graduating from South Beauregard High School in 2023. I had the privilege of teaching a young lady who is both smart and strong, among a litany of other things.

(And little did I know what transpired in my classroom almost four years ago, something personal she shared with me in the interview process!)

After achieving success at the NCAA East preliminary rounds, the nationally second-ranked LSU track and field team is well-positioned to pursue gold at nationals this week. Live coverage of the NCAA Outdoor Championships will air on ESPN2 for the first three days and then switch over to ESPN on Saturday. Individual events will each have their own stream throughout the week on ESPN+.

Spooner is scheduled for the javelin throw in the 8:45 slot Thursday evening.

One of 14 Tiger women to qualify, Spooner placed in the top-12 in prelims to punch her ticket to the national stage. Amazingly, her first two throws would have qualified her, but for good measure, her throw of 54.75 meters (179’ 7”) sent the very clear message that she would not be satisfied with less than her best.

Perhaps this is a result of a nagging condition she admits to having.

“I have major Imposter Syndrome a lot of times, and I am very family oriented,” Spooner said. “So when I don’t feel like I belong here, and all I want is to go home […it] is the worst mix. I struggled a lot and still do. But it all goes back to asking myself why I do it. I do it all for my family, and to use the abilities God has blessed me with for his glory.”

According to a simple online search, Imposter Syndrome is the condition of feeling anxious and not experiencing success internally, despite being high-performing in external, objective ways. This condition often results in people doubting their abilities.

Trinity, a young woman of God, would likely agree that this is an element of spiritual warfare, that the enemy tries to strike us at our most vulnerable, that we extinguish our light instead of sharing it.

“I don’t really like to think that I face challenges because everything to me is just another day. A quote from The Noticer [taught by South Beau English teacher Billie Stultz] actually gave me this mindset: ‘You’re always going into a crisis, coming out of a crisis, or about to enter a crisis.’ Some people hurt more than others, but everyone faces something every day, and you can’t truly put a measurement on challenges.

“But I know some events in my life have greatly shaped me into the person and athlete that I am today. My first major moment that rocked my world was losing my grandfather. I still struggle with it to this day. He was my biggest fan and No. 1 supporter hands down. Without him here, it has been very hard to truly celebrate happy moments knowing how badly I wish he could see me. My main goal will always be to make my God and family proud, and sometimes without him here in person, I feel a little emptiness in the crowd.”

Getting through these imposter voices and the difficulties of losing her grandfather have helped shape Spooner into the athlete and person she is. Getting through the difficult challenges of living in southwest Louisiana has as well.

“My second major struggle was a mix between Covid, hurricanes [Laura and Delta], personal injury, and illness within the family. Covid robbed me of my freshman season, and my sophomore year was rough. Between my parents being gone in Houston while my dad was taking care of his own health issues, and two hurricanes, sophomore year had a rough start. Then, when my parents returned home, we made the decision for me to go virtual and not attend school in person after first semester. This allowed me to focus on my sport and train freely, but it was really hard to be motivated with little access to friends and Covid lurking.

“My faith and family are the only things that got me through it. With the devastating loss of my grandfather, I had my family, and funny enough, God found me during that time. I wasn’t seeking him in those moments, but he found me and dusted me off and made my life new. Sometimes, all I had was God and family. We couldn’t see many other people at the time, and when the hurricanes hit all we had was community and, once again, God.”

The challenges were only getting started.

“Then came the injury. It forced me to choose between two sports I loved. In the long run, I learned that my choice to sit out of basketball was the best choice to make. It was not fun sitting on the sideline watching everyone, having to go to physical therapy, and missing out. But I got the ability to return back to my full strength for the spring season.”

Spooner’s faith, fortitude, and fire has clearly pushed her through the rocky journey of growing up, perhaps more quickly than many. She gives credit, however, to her parents and family for being right there with her the whole time. She even mentioned a certain coach she recognizes has been instrumental in her improvement as a thrower.

“Coach Robert Woosley is the man that got me to a level that put me on the map. His wife and daughters have taken me in as their own. I will forever be grateful for them and their constant support. “All in all I have learned to be thankful for every little thing, and I wouldn’t call them challenges or setbacks, but more like a really tough workout in life.”

Spooner has of course navigated such a tough path to already become one of LSU’s all-time greatest throwers. But clearly she will be looking to make an even more permanent mark on the LSU record books this week. Her 55.24m (181’ 3”) toss on April 20 was a season high, not to mention third all-time in LSU history, supplanting Cheryl Coker, who had remained in the top three for 36 years.

The top two throws Trinity will be hunting down this week and over the course of her promising career are Laverne Eve’s 62.40m (204’ 9”) in 1987, and Rebekah Wales’ 58.21m (191’ 0”) in 2017.

Her high this year would have placed her eighth in last year‘s NCAA competition.

Spooner will be summoning an internal fortitude and athletic talent that began in junior high, one of those cute stories that are shared at holiday family get-togethers. It was the little sister in her that was perhaps the impetus for her all-American stardom.

“I started throwing javelin in seventh grade, following in my oldest brother’s footsteps,” she said. “Cole was the quarterback for the football team at the time, and my uncle who was a football and track coach, told him he had an arm and wanted him to throw javelin. As the annoying little sister I am, I always rode home with my brothers and hung out with them. And when he started throwing after school I started practicing with him. Then Coach Zito [of South Beau] realized I wasn’t half bad. So he got me a girls jav and let me start practicing. Then he took a chance and let little ole seventh grade me throw. And the rest is history. That one chance Coach Zito took on me opened so many doors I never could have imagined getting the chance to walk through.”

Spooner would walk through that door to become a high school all-American javelin thrower, signing a national letter of intent with the LSU women’s track and field program in the fall of 2022. As a senior at South Beauregard, she claimed first place the previous summer at the Nike Outdoor Nationals in Eugene, OR, where she threw 161’ 11” and achieved the all-American status.

Incidentally, this week’s nationals are in Eugene as well.

Also in high school, Spooner scored the two best throws of the Nike Nationals competition, including 157’ 9” in the fifth round. She became the first female athlete from Louisiana to win the javelin title in meet history. She also won gold medals in the javelin at the 2019 and 2022 Louisiana State Track & Field Championships in LSU’s Bernie Moore Stadium.

“Trinity is a great addition to our team and improves our field event group,” Shaver said at the time of the signing. “It is always nice to keep Louisiana athletes in our state.”

Few people know how close Spooner was to not saying yes to Shaver.

“Recruitment in my mind was like a giant grease fire. Every time I felt like I had it all figured out, I’d get a call or a text, and it was like someone kept pouring water on the stupid grease fire before it could go out knowing it would only make it worse. I talked to many coaches and had many offers, and when it all boiled down to it, the only one I was really interested in was Stanford.

“I wanted to say yes so bad. Everything about it was magical. The area was beautiful. The weather was practically perfect. I couldn’t imagine why I wouldn’t want to go. But in the end when it was getting close to time to make a choice, there was just something in my heart telling me to be patient. Patience is not a part of my vocabulary by any means, but this time I had it. I told the Stanford coach I couldn’t make a decision by her deadline.

“Then just a few days later I got a call from a Kansas number. I didn’t answer, but then I saw I had a voicemail. Long story short, it was Coach Andy, the current LSU throws coach, trying to get a hold of me to get me to Baton Rouge. I prayed a ton leading up to that visit, asking God to show me where I was supposed to go, to give me the clarity I needed to know that I was where I was supposed to be.

“As soon as I went on my visit I knew it was the place for me. I immediately had a sense of relief when everything worked out, and I knew it was God.”

Despite such wild success so early in life, Spooner works hard to remain humble, to not exalt herself in the face of stardom. She knows that light is a fire that comes from somewhere, or someone, else.

“God has been with me as I journey through this new part of my life, and even though I feel lost here at times, he reminds me that I am his, and as long as he is within me, I have a part of my eternal home in my heart. He’s allowed people into my life here that now give me a sense of home. It’s been God and family through it all.”

God, God, and God. It is a name she remembers to honor a lot, and it is quite fitting that her parents named her Trinity. We will all be praying to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit this week for you, young lady. It’s the least I owe you considering the last thing you told me in the interview. What a neat little fact I never knew.

I just hope I never fussed at you for talking to him.

“My life after college doesn’t seem like much to many, but it is everything to me. I look forward to being a wife and mother one day in the future. But after college I want to get married to my current boyfriend Landon LeBlanc (we started dating because of your class actually!). I would like to apply to Louisiana college, enroll in their ITeach program, and get my certification. I would like to work at South Beauregard, but I would also love to just work in any surrounding areas.

“Throughout this time, if it is in God’s will, I will continue to train and hopefully compete in the 2028 Olympic trials as long as my family and God continue to come first, and hopefully be a mother shortly after.”

I believe Harrison Butker would be proud, Trinity. And so am I, young lady. God luck Thursday 😉