ETSU track athlete Tiffany Collier received second place in the unseeded 800-meter dash with a time of 2 minutes, 19 seconds and first place in the 400-meter dash in the Niswonger Track and Field Invitational last week.
Collier, 23, is 5 feet, 9.
“When you are taller, it is harder to run track,”Collier said.
Collier’s height did not stop her from breaking last year’s record of 2:20:00 in the 800-meter dash. Collier said that she had not run the 400-meter dash in two years, but she still won her heat by placing 22 out of 93.
“The 400-meter dash prepares you for the 800-meter dash,” she said.
Collier’s favorite event is the 800-meter run. Her goal is to compete in the future Beijing Olympics in the 800-meter dash.
She started running track when she was 7 years old. “My father took me out to a park one day, and a couple of his friends had their sons out there playing flag football,” she said. “I wanted to play too, but they would not play with me because I was a girl.
“My dad said get out there and catch the ball. They would not even pass me the ball, but I intercepted a pass. When I intercepted that pass, I kept running and running. I ran to the end of the park. They could not catch me. I outran the boys. Ever since then, I have been competing.”
Collier is not just an athlete. She has also completed nearly 800 hours of community service. “I put my community before I put myself,” she said.
Collier has volunteered for Boys and Girls Club, Girls Inc., Special Olympics, Food Harvest of Tennessee, Book It Across America, Habitat for Humanity, Toys for Tots and Asbury Family Resource Center. She also won the State of Tennessee Community Service Award.
Academics are a vital part of Collier’s career. In 2004, she was in Who’s Who Among Students in America’s Colleges and Universities for ETSU. Only seven students were chosen.
She has been in the All Academic Conference and on the dean’s list for the past four years.
She received her bachelor’s degree in education and is currently in graduate school. She plans to receive her master’s in human behavior in society.
Collier has implemented different programs to Tennessee. “Watch What You Say” is a game that has been applied to the education department.
“This is to help children watch what they say because your mouth can get you in trouble,” Collier said.
“It can make a difference in your life. It can make you or break you.”
She plans to meet with Congressman Harold Ford Jr. to discuss “Watch What You Say.”
“We are going to try and spread my game throughout Tennessee,” she said.
In addition to her academics, Collier is also a storyteller.
“I volunteer my time,” she said. “I go out and tell stories. One of my favorite stories to tell is called Follow the Drinking Gourd.
Collier tells that story in local elementary schools to the children. She also writes poetry.
She also participates in beauty pageants and won the title of Miss Kingsport 2004. Collier’s platform is “Reaching for the goal: the benefit of sports participation in the lives of girls.”
She started competing in pageants when she was 21 and believes that the pageant world is “infectious.” Once a woman starts, she keeps on competing.
She said that winning Miss Kingsport was a big turning point in her life.
“It opened up a door for scholarship money,” she said. She earned $4,200 for competing.
After winning Miss Kingsport, Collier visited many schools, where she shared diversity and ethnicity with the children.

Author