As college seniors graduate this upcoming spring, it’s nice to be reminded of what success can be obtained after graduation – especially for student athletes.
Mekhi Abbott, a Graduate student and javelin thrower at the University of Maryland, is a great example of what can come; after completing his studies at Howard, he continues to reach new heights in track and field and looks to further his education pursuing a graduate degree in journalism.
As far as on the field goes, Abbott has put together some outstanding performances this season for the Terps.
During the Florida Relays on March 31, Abbott would put his name in the school’s record books with a throw of 60.9 meters, marking his 3rd best performance and fifth best throw of his life. Abbott then would break his own record the following week with a throw of 63.40 meters.
“It’s dope for me to be able to break the school record so early in the season, but there’s definitely more that I wanna do,” Abbott said. “It wasn’t season’s best season for me, but it wasn’t a personal record. My PR is still 63.69 meters from when I was at Howard, so I still know that there’s a lot more improvement to go and to be had and to be seen.”
With Abbott excelling in the weight room prior to the season and working on improving his fundamentals of his throws, it’s no surprise to see his work come to fruition.
“I do some crazy stuff in that weight room. So I feel like just a lot of those things, what I’ve been able to do at practice, what I’ve been able to do in the weight room, and just my coach trying to almost break down my technique so I can lose like unlearn some of those bad technical things that I had in my throw and relearning like the way that I should be doing certain things,” Abbott exclaimed.
These standout performances from Abbott have come to the delight of his former throwing coach Danny Stokes, who has seen his journey first hand.
“Mekhi was a dynamic athlete, ready to have fun but always had that focus, passion and determination. He started off as a skinny walk-on freshman and ended his Howard Career and a 3x MEAC champ (4x if he came back for the Covid year), with a bunch of accolades and accomplishments along the way. He always came in with a smile and great energy and just had fun, so it was an honor to watch his journey as a student athlete at Howard and even now as a Terp,” Coach Stokes said.
As far as off the field goes Abbot attributes his pursuit for higher education to his Mother. “I always credit my mom when it comes to furthering my education because my mom has literally like five degrees,” Abbot said. “She has two associates, a bachelor’s and two master’s. So like, she furthered her education. So that’s kind of always inspired me and I always knew that I wanted to get my master’s degree.”
With Abbott studying journalism, he has been able to remain close to Howard through covering their successful year in sports. “I was able to cover a few Howard games, which was really cool. Obviously, that’s something I love to do because I came from Howard and I always want to amplify HBCUs. Although I don’t go to one anymore, I still have a degree from one. So, you know, that’s always something that I’ll be a champion for. It hasn’t always been easy, but you find a way, and I try to be as resilient as possible in multiple aspects of my life. I like to call myself multifaceted,” Abbott said.
Abbott will look to continue to shine in the sports world on and off the field, and be an example for rising HBCU graduates as they soon enter the media workforce.