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Junior high school athlete becomes national all-star
The family's well-worn scrapbook tells just part of the story. Its pages include a myriad of photos and newspaper clippings they had collected over the years regarding their daughter, Alexandra Tatum.
But it's the gold, silver and bronze medals that the teen has earned over the past six years that tell the rest of her story. Each time someone turns the pages of the scrapbook, her collection of medals clank together. They clearly highlight her growing list of accomplishments.
A student at Mountain Home Junior High School, the teen remains one of the fastest students in the nation. Looking back at how she got started in track and field, she admits the sport was something she never expected would become a lifelong passion.
Her rise to the top began in 2006 when she joined the Track City Track Club in Eugene, Ore., at the urging of her mother, Jaimie Crane.
"My mom kind of influenced me into this kind of stuff. She wanted to put me into sports," Tatum said.
Just seven years old at the time, Tatum immediately resisted the idea of participating in organized sports.
"When I first did track, I wasn't very good at it," she said.
While she did practice with others in the local youth club a couple of times a week, it seemed that Tatum's heart really wasn't into competing. But that changed drastically when she lost during her first major track and field meet.
"When I lost in the long jump and my 200 (meter run), I really didn't like that idea of losing," she said.
But it was those losses that convinced Tatum that she wanted to be the best. But to get there meant devoting a lot more time practicing at the local track.
"I started practicing more, and I got better so I wouldn't have to feel that way again" -- having to deal with losing, she said.
In just the span of a few months, her abilities grew rapidly. Later that year, she competed at the 2006 USA Track and Field Oregon Association Championships. It was here that she earned her first significant awards, which included silver medals in the high jump and long jump with a gold medal in the 100-meter dash. She has vivid memories of that race.
"I was a little hyper -- a little excited. It felt really good to win," she said.
From that point on, Tatum admits that she couldn't see herself ever losing again, "because I didn't want to lose that winning feeling."
To stay competitive, she continued to invest more and more time at the track. Often, she was still practicing long after her fellow teammates had packed up and gone home.
She spent most of her time practicing at the starting blocks -- a critical element needed to win the 100- and 200-meter sprints.
"Just like starting off your day, you want to start off right," she said.
However, that focus came with unexpected consequences when she noticed that her performance in the long jump and triple jump started to suffer. It convinced her to switch to a more well-rounded routine so she could keep all of her skills well tuned.
Those changes proved vital over the next three years as she accumulated seven more gold medals, including her first in the long jump. But those medals didn't come easy.
"As I got older, I started to notice that things got a lot more competitive," she said. To a point, it only encouraged her to work even harder.
By the time she was 10 years old, all of that hard work seemed to pay off. In 2009, she earned her a spot in the USA Track and Field Region 13 Championships, which included competitors from cities across the Pacific Northwest.
Despite the higher caliber of competition, she earned a bronze medal in the 100-meter race and took home a pair of gold medals in the 200-meter run and the long jump.
But that was just the start. Tatum's award-winning performance qualified her to compete at the 2009 USA Track & Field Junior Olympic National Championship in Greensboro, N.C. Going up against 13 other teens from across the United States, she would go on to earn the bronze medal in the long jump.
That would also be the last time that Tatum would be a part of track and field clubs in Oregon. In 2010, her family moved to Mountain Home, where she continued her quest for excellence.
To remain at the pinnacle, she spends about three hours a night at the high school track and consults with her coaches to see what she can do to improve. She focuses most of her work mastering the 200-meter race and the triple jump.
"Those are the ones that I master in," she said.
In fact, her quickness on the track often exceeds the abilities of older competitors. During a track and field meet in 2011, for example, she tied for second place with a student that was two years older.
According to her step father, Tyrone Hutchings, the officials gave the title to the older student since it was her last year of competition.
"They didn't want to give it (the silver medal) to a sixth grader I guess," he said.
Tatum's competitive spirit shows no signs of waning. Preparing for her freshman year of high school, the teen plans to remain active on the school's volleyball and basketball teams while fueling her passion for track and field.
However, she admits that she has no ambitions of joining the cross country team.
"I'm not a long-distance person," she said.
After high school, she hopes to attend the University of Oregon and major in interior design. She has no reservations about remaining active with the university's track and field team.
"I think about it a lot," she said.
At the same time, she has another goal she hopes to achieve -- a chance to go to the Olympics to compete against the world's finest athletes.
"I always wanted to go," she said.
Her step-father admits that she stands a good chance at making that dream come true.
"Last season, she was ranked fourth in the nation in the long jump," he said. "She has the potential for sure -- a great work ethic."
Ultimately, making it to the Olympics all rests with her, Hutchings added.
"If she really wants to, she can do whatever she wants to do," he said.