Mt. Hope High School freshman Lola Silva may not have known what the future had in store when she joined the indoor track team as a long jumper this past winter, but she certainly has no reason to doubt her abilities moving forward.

“I just joined in the winter to have a sport to do,” Silva, who also plays soccer and lacrosse, said. “I went into it wanting to run and get in shape but then my coach introduced me to long jump and it kind of just happened…I just found it so fun.”

Silva recently notched another gold medal win on May 24 at the freshman outdoor state championship in Coventry, beating out all other freshmen in Rhode Island for the long jump. She already won the freshmen state indoor championship in February, and ranked 7th among all long jumpers in the state during All States in March. She also came in second place in the divisional and class championships this year.

“I just love it so much. I don’t think it’s really hit me that way yet,” she said when asked for her thoughts on finding such a large amount of success in her first year of long jumping. “I just love going to practice and hanging out with my friends. It’s almost not even like I’m running.”

Silva said that technique and mindset were the two most important things to pulling off the perfect long jump.

“I just try to not stress as much and just kind of go for it,” she said. “I feel like it’s best when I’m not even thinking about it. Because when I think too much it kind of messes it up.”

Silva will have her next big test when she competes in the Outdoor Track and Field State Championships on Saturday, June 4 at Brown University.

“I’m nervous but also excited because I just love competing,” she said.

Silva said that she was grateful to her coach, Renae Cicchinelli, for encouraging her to try long jumping and for her support and mentorship. She also thanked her sophomore teammate, Kali Rocha.

“She helped me with indoor and kind of showed me the ropes and she’s always been there for me,” she said.

Going forward, Silva looks to possibly go to camps this summer to work on her acceleration and further perfect her technique.

“At first I thought I was just going to do it as a sport, but now I really like it and I really want to improve,” she said.