Prayer, Hard Work Guide Duquesne's Kuchera to NCAA Meet

It was spring break and Duquesne track sophomore Rose Kuchera was at the beach when late at night her assistant coach Shannon Taub made a phone call.

Her Jan. 30 program record leap in the long jump of 6.52 meters (21-4.75) not only shattered a program record she previously held, but now she is one of just 16 individuals who qualified for Friday’s NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

After that record jump, she called her mother Ashley, telling her that the championship meet was in the realm of possibility and immediately tears began to form.

Kuchera comes from an athletic family with her mom playing softball, her dad Jason and brother Adam soccer and sister Ivy soccer, but even so, her mom was in disbelief.

“She was saying, ‘how does a 5-foot-3 girl jump 21 feet,'” Kuchera recalled. “She couldn’t believe it. She was really overwhelmed. She’s super religious and I am too. We give all the glory to God and all of the ways he has gotten me here. A lot of people ask me if I am shocked by how far I jumped and what my mom tells me all the time is life-and-death is in the power of the tongue. While I’m super excited with my jump, I also believe that you can do what you put your mind to and I truly believe whether I set a number to it or not, I knew I could accomplish something great with that. I put my mind to it and did that.”

Upon finding out that her dream had realized, Kuchera ran to the bathroom for quite possibly the most subdued celebration in Duquesne Athletics history given all of her friends were already asleep, but the happiness was very much there.

MAKING A CHOICE

Track was not Kuchera’s first passion, rather it was cheerleading, but even there, her jumping ability began to gain attention at Canon-McMillan High School.

Cheer was something she did for 10-to-11 years and track first began in middle school. Kuchera’s school had a fitness day and when she did a relay, everyone thought she was fast and recommended trying out for the track team.

Even while cheering, her high leaps drew praise from other dancers and in middle school track went well and then COVID hit.

It was a transition time Kuchera referred to as “awkward” but after she tried it out again and it continued to go well. That was when she made the decision to step away from dance and fully give track a try.

As soon as Kuchera knew she could do track in college, she fully committed to it. Regardless of what division it was and how good she ended up being, she loved it.

Kuchera had a breakout moment in her junior year but had some disappointment with her senior year because it was not going how she wanted it to go, specifically when it came to hitting her marks.

In her time at high school Kuchera won eight WPIAL gold medals (3x triple jump, 3x 100m hurdles, 2x long jump) and three more medals at the PA state championships in long jump among other accomplishments.

With choosing where to go to school, it was also determining who your coach would be and that was where Taub, who is an assistant coach in multi, sports and jumps came into play. Taub was a track student-athlete for Duquesne from 2015-20, after which she made the transition to the coaching staff.

Kuchera felt like she connected with Taub and upon talking to other athletes, they expressed a similar sentiment. To Kuchera, Taub is young, super easy to connect with and has a lot of results with former athletes which spoke to her abilities as a coach.

Duquesne ended up being the only local college that ended up being in her final picks. There were bigger schools a couple-hours further away but her choosing Duquesne was a gut feeling which has paid off.

“A big reason Rose is so successful is she does everything right that it takes to be a high-level athlete,” explained Taub. “She works hard at practice, she’s extremely coachable, she’s on top of her treatment and recovery and she pushed herself every time she’s in the weight room. When you combine those four things, and do them consistently, big things can happen.”

Kuchera appreciated that coming to college was a fresh start but also appreciated that the classes were easier to balance and living 25-to-30 minutes from Pittsburgh it made the transition as seamless as possible.

Coming to college felt like a fresh start and I was really happy with my freshman season. I knew that was the beginning so with the coaching everything would get better.

In her freshman season, Kuchera was twice named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week, twice set a program record in the triple jump. won an ECAC Gold Medal in the triple jump, won a bronze medal in both triple and long jump in the Atlantic 10 Championships, making the all-rookie team.

Kuchera also earned the honor to travel to Oregon as a 2025 USA Track & Field U20 Championships in the triple jump.

“I think last year I wasn’t too nervous but coming into it I had no standard set;” Kuchera analyzed. “I just wanted to do well. I had an amazing freshman season coming into this year. Leading up to the season it was hard to think about living up to what I already done.”

THE SEQUEL

Over the summer Kuchera got her individual training done but it was the fall where being back with teammates set a routine.

Kuchera had a lot of self-pressure, the wondering if she could surpass the standard she had created and as the season drew closer, the anxiety became troubling.

It took time, but she realized how hard she had worked in the fall and it was going to pay off at some point, be it the first meet or eventually after.

“When it comes to her training we really focused on things that we felt would put her in the best position to jump far without giving her a million cues or things to think about,” revealed Taub. “For me, I knew this year that her approach and teaching her how to run properly down the runway was going to be the main focus.”

That first meet, the YSU ice breaker, Kuchera set a then program record 6.08 meters (19-11.5) in the long jump and it relieved a lot of that anxiety.

Kuchera was also assisted by stepping into her religion, praying about any worries she may have, it kept Kuchera light and taking a lot of that pressure off herself.

The wait between Jan. 30 and the call was an agonizing month, to determine if anyone made the cut off, but Kuchera was at peace with understanding she did what she could, and could not control how others jumped.

Of the 16 who qualified, Kuchera is one of five underclassmen who qualified. The top nine will advance to a reverse-order final. Both the prelims and finals will occur at 5:45 p.m. EST Friday.

Kuchera’s travel party will include her mom, Taub and Duquesne’s head coach Jeff Gibson. This is her mom’s second meet she is coming to with the first being the U20’s in Oregon.

“I think it’s a different experience coming from a small school where I’m going to be around all of these big schools that have multiple people going, up to 10 maybe more going with their teammates around them,” Kuchera thought. “I think that’s going to be a different adjustment being at a meet where as an athlete it’s just me, but I also think the support of both of my coaches and mom will be what I need to get me through. My friends are all watching on ESPN+ on Friday, so I’m happy to know they’re supporting me from far away.”

Through it all, less than 24 hours after flying out to Arkansas, Kuchera was all smiles, mere feet from the track which has become a second home these last two seasons.

All of it has been a sense of pride that made the individual who a couple of years ago was disappointing at not hitting her marks, to be proud of not just the work put in, but the results as well.

“I could not do this without my coaches, the work I put in and the motivation of my teammates has really gotten me through it,” concluded Kuchera. “I believe that I can do big things and that mindset can get you really far.”

Photo credits: Duquesne Athletics and Megan Palinski