Q&A With Former Virginia Tech Sprinter, Aunye’ Boone

We are happy here at All Sports Discussion to have an interview with former Virginia Tech athlete, Aunye’ Boone.  From 2009 to 2012, Boone was a sprinter for the Virginia Tech women’s track and field team.  She had an excellent career (and you can see the results of her career on the roster profile at Hokies Sports).  You can follow her on Twitter at @AunyeBoooone.  Let’s start this interview!!

@HokieGuru:  What made you decide to become a Hokie?

@AunyeBoooone:  I never had an interest in Virginia Tech until I got recruited by them. Coach Lawrence Johnson, who now coaches at Clemson, found me at Outdoor Nike Nationals and promised me “two laptops” if I signed with his school. Virginia Tech felt like a second family, and with free tuition and more family memories to make at this school, I signed.

@HokieGuru:  Are you going down to Blacksburg this upcoming year for any Virginia Tech athletic contests?

@AunyeBoooone:  I actually still reside in Blacksburg and work in Roanoke, so yes I will continue going to all VT Athletic events.

@HokieGuru:  Congratulations on your graduation this year.  Tell us about life at the law firm.

@AunyeBoooone:  Thank you! Graduation was a huge milestone, but I now feel like I am making huge strides in furthering my career. Life at the Law firm of Daniel L. Crandall is amazing and I now have a third family to keep. The firm is a christian one, in which we are kind and supportive of our clients. Being a personal injury firm, I am a paralegal assistant to the attorney Mr. Ashwell and support him in handling dog bite, accident, and slip & fall cases.

@HokieGuru:  What are your future plans?  We understand that you might be interested in law school.

@AunyeBoooone:  I am very interested in law school and that has always been my lifetime goal above track and field. I am taking the LSAT Kaplan course for three months and will then take my LSAT to achieve a high score. Following the LSAT, I will be applying to my top law schools: Georgetown, American, George Mason, and Howard University.

@HokieGuru:  Tell our readers about the life of a track athlete at Virginia Tech.

@AunyeBoooone:  Life as a track athlete at VT helps you stay grounded and focused. The classes we take are centered around our classes and the university makes sure we have adequate time to complete our classes, walk across the drillfield and mentally and physically prepare for the practice at hand. Many athletes will tell you that life as a student-athlete makes you two different people. but at VT I’ve become a very decorated person with ONE personality. I loved my English major and the professor that taught me because they never judged me or assumed that I would fail. My coaches also recognized my course load, and used practice as a time to clear my head and free myself of the normal worries in the academic realm. In all honesty, I couldn’t have completed college without both my English major and my first love….track and field.

@HokieGuru:  Who are some of the former Hokies athletes (and always Hokies) that you keep in touch with?

@AunyeBoooone:  Queen Harrison, was a teammate, a roomate, a friend, and a sister. I looked up to her in every way and I knew from my recruiting visit, that we would become lifetime friends. Ogechi Nwaneri is also another teammate and freshman year roomate and with her I will always cherish and look back upon my first year at VT. Keith Ricks was not only a teammate, but another brother because he pushed me to look at the bigger picture and to never sweat the small things. Finally, my boyfriend, teammate, and best friend Eric Hoepker has also been a driving force in my track career and also kept me grounded during the months leading to my graduation.

@HokieGuru:  Please tell our readers about some of your memorable experiences as a track and field athlete at Virginia Tech.

@AunyeBoooone:  Freshman year set the tone for my experience at Virginia Tech and it taught me how to mature and make decisions on my own without fear of judgement from other people. That year I bravely changed my major from Political Science to English, ran 23.50 indoors in the 200m dash, and stayed away from my family for months at a time. Another fond memory is pledging to the sorority Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. This sorority is apart of the NPHC and does community service, public awareness, and global outreach. Finally, graduation from VT was a high note in my time there because it allowed me to gaze down memory lane and realize how four years at the university changed my life forever.

@HokieGuru:  For those who have not heard about your volunteer service, Aunye’, please tell us about your Summer 2011 ACC Coach for College Vietnam experience.

@AunyeBoooone:  Coach For College is a program started by Parker Goyer, a former tennis player for Duke University. CFC recruits ACC athletes to raise $2,000 from business, friends, families, or even churches, in order to pay for the athletes’ travel costs to Vietnam. Upon arrival in Vietnam, the ACC athletes will live three weeks in the rural areas of Vietnam teaching the underprivileged children in the areas of English, Math, Science, and Health. The athletes also coach the children in sports such as Soccer, Basketball, Tennis, and Volleyball.  Many of these children will never get to leave Vietnam or attend the university, but they will experience a life of education and sports for 3 weeks with people from another country. Not only are the children gaining experience, but the Americans learn life lessons from the children as well.

@HokieGuru:  What is your fondest memory at Virginia Tech?

@AunyeBoooone:  My fondest memory would be when my 4×4 relay team consisting of me, Queen Harrison, Asia Washington, and Yvonne Amegashie crossed the finish line in first at the Florida Relays clocking in at 3:34 and ranking fourth in the country at the NCAA Division One level. As the anchor of that relay, I knew that I had the power to make the race better or worse, and a numb feeling overcame me and I completed the job for my team.

@HokieGuru:  It might be too early to digest a question like this because you’re a recent graduate, but how much do you think you will miss your time at Virginia Tech?

@AunyeBoooone:  I think that I will miss VT very much as I move on to a different phase in my life. I believe that being a Hokie doesn’t die with time, but only changes depending on your location and age. I am joining the monogram club this year and will attend every football game and track meet. When I move to DC for law school, I will attend Homecoming, and will also begin sending the English department small donations. As the years go by, I will always keep this great school in my heart.

@HokieGuru:  Virginia Tech has been a real mover in track and field – we’ve had substantial success in the Atlantic Coast Conference track and field indoor and outdoor meets – we’ve also done well on the national level. To what do you attribute our success?

@AunyeBoooone:  I believe that VT track and field has come a long way, and it all boils down to the attitude and motivation of our coaches. Without positive leaders put before us, we would have never gotten this far. What is a plan without a dream? VT track and field lays down a blueprint and we have fun at practice trying to achieve it. When we arrive at the track, all the hard work has been done; it’s time to put on a show!

@HokieGuru:  Any advice for the students out there that read this about getting ready for college and beyond from your experiences as a track and field athlete?  Was there anything that you took from your away experience on as a track and field athlete that could help you in other areas of life?

@AunyeBoooone:  My advice for students preparing for college all around the country, PLEASE live life for yourself and never try to explain yourself. Noone is perfect, and memories are never made by playing it safe. Apply to that liberal arts school in California, color your hair purple before your freshman year, change your major to theatre if that is truly your passion. My experience as a track and field athlete shows me that I always have an audience watching me whether it is at the track meet, at practice, in class, and even on the internet. If you play your part, choose your own path, then you will never have to look to this “audience” for validation. Stay in your lane, and run your race no matter what hobbies or career you have.

We thank @AunyeBoooone for the interview and her time!!  GO HOKIES!!

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