Red Raider Club Scholar Athlete of the Month: Montene Speight
June 01, 2015 | Track and Field
Senior Montene Speight has been named this month's Red Raider Club Scholar Athlete.
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June 1, 2015
Written by: Ty Parker, Athletics Communications
Typically it is pole-vaulters and high jumpers most familiar with the phrase "raising the bar", but one track and field athlete has certainly raised the bar when it comes to the combination of athletic and academic success.
In fact, Texas Tech sprinter Montene Speight recently reached two milestone achievements within a span of one week. She was named to the District 7 Capital One Academic all-District Team on May 22nd, and then punched a ticket to her first NCAA Outdoor Championships one week later where she is set to compete in the 400 meter dash.
These feats are not unfamiliar for Speight.
She has earned five All-Big 12 honors this season on the track, and currently has the No. 21 400 meter dash time in the nation. Additionally, the political science major was one of 11 female athletes named to District 7's team and now has the chance to be named an Academic All-American next month. She was also named to the Academic All-Big 12 track & field team this month.
Speight actually transferred to Texas Tech from LSU after her sophomore year. Head Coach Wes Kittley and the rest of the coaching staff was one of the main reasons she felt she could succeed in Lubbock.
"The coaching is a lot different," Speight said. "I do a lot more strength based running here, so a lot more over-distance running. Then obviously Coach Kittley is just a completely different person as well, and I really like how he prays at the end of every meeting. Beyond being a coach, Coach Kittley is a really great person and it makes you want to do well for him because you're more than just a number or a performance."
Not only was it the coaching staff and their ability to increase her athletic performance, but also the focus they want the student-athletes to place on academics.
"My favorite thing about being at Texas Tech is the emphasis on succeeding academically," she said. "I remember when I first got here and seeing that they really take academics seriously, and they really do care what your performance is in the classroom. It's not all about just getting you through the university. They really want you to get a diploma and be an influential person in life."
Suzanne Dickenson, the Athletic Academic Advisor for Cross Country and Track & Field, as well as the resources available in the Marsha Sharp Center have been a huge boost for Speight, who graduated this May with a 4.0 GPA.
"The Marsha Sharpe is really helpful," she said. "Suzanne is really helpful as far as offering tutors. I definitely use Suzanne and all the resources and all the networking and things she has. I know this year they started the FCCA series which has been really beneficial as far as how to make resumes and how to dress and etiquette and all those things. They have a lot of good resources for athletes that have nothing to do with athletics which is really cool."
The recent graduate will conclude her collegiate running career at the NCAA Championships before setting her sights on world trials in Birmingham, England.
Speight has British citizenship through her mother and hopes to run for England this summer and possibly represent them in the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Following her running career, there is another "bar" that will be in Speight's future.
"Depending on where my time is and where my rankings are, I may run another year or go to law school," Speight said. "After track I want to pursue being an entertainment lawyer. Possibly working with the NCAA and any type of litigation they would have with the NFL players union with all the concussions and things that are going on. Law school at the earliest will be 2017 because I don't want to waste my athletic abilities right now."
Having a plan in place for her future is no accident. Speight said she knew from the very beginning that she wanted to be a lawyer and it was the expectations she had for herself that allowed her to do so well in the classroom.
"It wasn't really intentional it just kind of happened," she said of her 4.0 GPA. "I think a lot of it is that I'm older. When you get older you start thinking what am I going to do the next couple of years and you start taking your classes more seriously. I think that's been one of the reasons I was able to get a 4.0 here. I was telling myself, `I work so hard on the track, I just need to have that same focus off the track as well so that I can be as successful and have that many more opportunities.'"
Developing a plan for the future and taking advantage of the resources available to student-athletes are two of the main tips she would give to any incoming freshmen.
"For an incoming freshman who is a student athlete I would tell them you definitely need to have a plan," she said. "Without a plan you don't really have goals or any expectations. Since I knew I always wanted to be a lawyer, I always knew I had to have decent grades, so I would definitely tell them to do that. The other thing I would tell them is to remember you could always get injured at any moment so you always need to take school seriously. Also, reach out to your teammates to see if anyone has taken a class that you're about to take or has taken the same professor. Just use all of your resources and don't feel like being a freshman that you're going to irritate someone by asking questions."
Speight also recognizes that she wouldn't be able to pursue her dreams of receiving a degree, running as an Olympian, or becoming a lawyer without the help of donations to the Red Raider Club.
"To everyone who donates to the Red Raider Club I would just really like to thank you all for everything you do for us," she said. "For a lot of us athletics gives us the opportunity to go to college and get a degree we may not have otherwise had the opportunity to get. I'm just really grateful that so many people I have not met personally or who have not personally met me care so much about me and my success, and it really is a blessing."
Players Mentioned
