Where are they now: Q&A with Gabby Scott

(CU Track and Field is starting a new feature called Where are they now. It will be a Q&A with a former University of Colorado track and field athlete. We will talk with former runners, throwers and jumpers several times a month. It's a great way to see what our greats are doing now)

BOULDER, Colo. — In a new series titled "Where Are They Now," CU Track and Field will feature Q&A sessions with former University of Colorado track and field athletes, providing updates on their lives. The inaugural spotlight is on Gabby Scott, a former Buffalo 400m runner.

In 2019, Scott achieved significant milestones, breaking two school records. She currently holds the 400m school record (52.34) set at the 2019 MPSF Indoor Track and Field Championships on Feb. 22-23, 2019. Capping off her collegiate career with a second-place finish at the 2019 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships, where she set a school record of 56.04 in the 400m hurdles. This record stood until Abbey Glynn surpassed it at the 2023 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Scott, who graduated with a degree in Business Management from the University of Colorado Boulder in Spring 2019, was born in Wiesbaden, Germany, to Gregg Scott and Rosa Puig. Notably, her Puerto Rican heritage has played a significant role in shaping her career. Gabby's mother hails from Puerto Rico.

In 2022, Gabby Scott made headlines by breaking Puerto Rico's national record in the 400m in Geneva, clocking in at 50.97. She became the first Puerto Rican to advance in the women's 400 at the world champs 2022 in Eugene, she became a two-time worlds semi-finalist at the 2023 Budapest World Athletics Championships, achieving a time of 51.07 seconds. Scott secured a Bronze at the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games with a time of 51.51 in the 400m.

Currently under the guidance of coach Gary Evans, Gabby Scott continues to make strides in her athletic career as she eyes the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, under the Puerto Rico flag.

Q&A with Gabby:

WHAT DO YOU THINK IT IS THAT MADE COLORADO UNIQUE AS A PROGRAM AND UNIVERSITY?

"… I like the fact that we [Colorado] are sort of underrated in a way, especially being the Pac-12. You know, we're not this huge, like track school necessarily. We are like cross country. I just love the way that the program has [been] built over the years and I think that really gives an opportunity to stand out and kind of create your own story. You know, you have people like Avery [McMullen] and Abbey [Glynn] now who are really making their path. And I just think sometimes when you're at a big school with all these top people, it can be easy to be in the shadows, and it's okay, that's expectation, which is fine. But I think being at Colorado, it just gives you a chance to be the underdog and everyone kind of sleeps on you and come out on top and have your own accomplishments. I also think Boulder is an absolutely magnificent place. It's beautiful. And I think you get a good balance; it's a great school it's a great city, It's a great campus, great sports program, I think there's very few universities who have it all. Like most times, you're in the middle of nowhere, but you're in a great program or you're in a great city, but maybe the sports aren't good or the school is not good. You literally have everything at Colorado, which I think is very rare."

WHY COLORADO?

"… so it's funny actually, even out of high school I mean, I was a very still average runner nationally within my city and everything like that, like I was good. I made it to states [championships]. But nationally, I was still very average. And so I really only had three offers basically it was Colorado, Boise State and Utah. But then Colorado when I got there was definitely that feeling that people matters, like I just knew that's where I could go to school. I had an amazing visit. I had really good host, a super fun time I was seeing the school seeing the social life, the athletic departments, everything. And basically, what I explained before is what made me want to go there. I knew I wanted to compete among the best being in the Pac-12, but I liked the fact that I was going to be challenged and I was getting a chance. And I knew it'd be the school, that I can make my own legacy basically."

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE BUFFALO MEMORY, TRACK AND NON-TRACK?

"…On the track I'd probably say when our 4x400m qualified for nationals my senior year. I think that was the first time in 10 plus years, since the 4x4 qualified. We had just grown really close and I think we saw the potential during indoor season and we've kind of went through a rough patch in the beginning of outdoor and we I just remember having a conversation with them, we can be a really good team, we can make it to Nationals, but everyone needs to do their role. And I think it was just one of those special moments where track can be very much [an] individual sport but in that sense, very much was a team off the track. Off the track, I would say getting to the business school. The business school is a top program, so it's a tough program, but I learned so much and I learned a lot, things I learned were very applicable and even a lot of my connections I still have whether it's from professors or former classmates. I really enjoyed the program a lot and getting my degree from there, I'm still very proud of it."

2019 WAS A BIG YEAR FOR YOU AT COLORADO, YOU BROKE A 23-YEAR RECORD IN THE 400M HURDLE AND YOU STILL HOLD THE 400M RECORD, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT LEAVING YOUR MARK AT CU?

"…it was a huge year. It felt good. It felt really good. I think my journey was really inspiring to a lot of people like I said I came in running 56 seconds in the 400m and never ran hurdles, to having all those records both in the 400m and 400m hurdles and I think more than anything it just shows people, you don't have to be a star to start out and shows people what hard work can do and doing the little things and I always joke with my former teammates there Eriana [Henderson], we really set the path because we were a big distance school and now we've been able to show our conference and show the nation we can be an overall powerhouse, and to see some of the seeds that I sowed, all these things are coming from it. It's been really, really exciting."

YOU'RE PART OF THE PUERTO RICAN NATIONAL TEAM. JUST TELL ME HOW THAT CAME ABOUT?

"… It was in 2017 and I was visiting [Puerto Rico] for vacation with one of my friends, my mom and she just happened to have a cousin of hers who went to school mates, [who] were best friends with someone who was within the Olympic Committee at the time, that cousin you told him all about me, especially given my age, they saw a lot of potential and I remember we were coming from the other side of the island. And they said, can you come in now? And I was like, Sure! We went all the way to San Juan and go to the Olympic Committee and I met with the two officals who are still there now and they talked to me and they saw my potential at the time. I was only 20 years old, and just finished my sophomore year and they saw my potential and had a really big project at the time of really wanting to [have] a relay [team] which hasn't actually happened yet, but that's kind of where it started…"

HOW DID COMPETING AS A STUDENT-ATHLETE PREPARE YOU FOR LIFE AFTER COLLEGE?

"…I actually talked about it with people all the time. I say how, Coach Burke [Bockman] is a very kind of hands-off coach, he's going to help you but he's not going to baby you and I'm super grateful for it because I've seen people who have come out of programs, when they're kind of holding your hand. They're kind of deciding every little thing for you whether how your body feels, on training and stuff like that. Burke and I really created a great relationship, especially once I started competing for Puerto Rico, of trusting me and I was having a conversation where we both thought worked, and I think that allowed me on the pro level to understand my body to kind of understand what I needed to do. To be able to have a conversation by coach versus just being lost. And on top of that, to Colorado and all the things I did in the business school, the different organizations, I think it just made me a well-rounded person. A lot of athletes, they don't really know what they want to do outside of the sport. I have a clear vision, I have my business career, I've done small business stuff and I've done modeling things. It just made me more well-rounded and grateful for the sport I want to do it as long as I am able to, but I have other assets and other skill sets as well that if for any reason anything abrupt happens or I just decide to close that chapter. I have other options as well."

YOU BARELY MISSED OUT ON THE GAMES RIGHT AFTER THE PANDEMIC, WITH EYES ON PARIS '24, HOW ARE YOU PREPARING?

"…I'm definitely a completely different athlete than I was and I was bouncing around events. I no longer do 400m hurdles, I just do the 400m. So I think now with that clear vision and I think mentally and physically this year is big thing of stepping into what I know I'm capable of. I've had a lot of people telling me, and I've had glimpses of it and I think in a lot of ways I was holding myself back and or just kind of cruising on. I qualified for 2022 for worlds, to qualify again and when I didn't qualify by time, but I did by season ranking, it was kind of step in the right direction. It's not going to be handed to you. I have to go after it. I'm very hardworking person and I had to just reflect on where some of the little things that I could do even more, when it came to my diet and getting bloodwork to understand, my gut health, things in the weight room. We really, really went hard in the fall and numbers that I was used to doing at four reps, I was now doing it at 10 and I just set up a really good base and even through reps at practice where I would start to get fatigued. I would literally just think of the Olympics, so if you want this time you want to get on the podium. It matters now like every single rep is a mental and physical practice for that moment. And I think having this mindset is definitely setting me up for success for the Olympics."

OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS, YOU'VE TAKEN SIGNIFICANT STRIDES IN YOUR ATHLETIC CAREER, MIRRORING THE STRATEGIC APPROACH YOU ADOPTED DURING YOUR COLLEGIATE YEARS. THIS JOURNEY CULMINATED IN REMARKABLE ACHIEVEMENTS, SUCH AS SETTING A NATIONAL RECORD IN THE JAVELIN THROW IN GENEVA AND SECURING A BRONZE MEDAL AT THE CENTRAL AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN GAMES. NOTABLY, YOU BECAME THE FIRST PUERTO RICAN TO ADVANCE TO THE SEMIFINALS IN BUDAPEST. COULD YOU SHARE THE STEPS YOU'VE TAKEN, AKIN TO NAVIGATING THROUGH COLLEGE, THAT HAVE BROUGHT YOU TO YOUR CURRENT POSITION AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS?

"…It definitely has gone step by step even in ways that I didn't expect but like you said, it just makes me chuckle because I'm like, that's how I was in high school. I did track for fun at the time and it just was step by step, so the fact that it's following the same way, I guess it's just a 'Gabby Way'. But I think it just made me really work on the journey I do have. I can be very hard on myself and knowing what I'm capable of and get frustrated. But I think the step by step has definitely allowed me to see that I am doing well and I'm having these accomplishments. For example, at 2018 only going to the relay for CAC games to five years later getting a medal. and realizing the journey is allowing me now, to still do that, even this year taking it piece by piece. I can't skip to the Olympics when I'm still involved in training, I can't even skip to outdoor season until I do indoor season. So, it's just making me take it every single phase. Let's master this. Let's do the best we can. And then we can move to the next thing and when all those pieces come together, that's when a big moment can happen..."

YOU WON BRONZE AT THE CENTRAL AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN GAMES AND YOUR FIRST INTERNATIONAL MEDAL UNDER THE PUERTO RICAN FLAG?

"…It felt bigger than I expected, like I knew it was a big deal. I think because I'm surrounded with world champions and Olympic champions. It's easy [to say] it's CSC, it's smaller meet but, now the woman's 400m in the Caribbean is very competitive. There's no easy competition and I was so excited. I remember being on the metal stand and they're playing the Dominican Republic national anthem and I was, I was teary eyed and it was, again a moment where I finally took it in. I was like, this was a big accomplishment. This is a big step. And I know just raising the flag, the vision I had for so long, my mother's country, it was a very special moment and I was able to see the two men who were there at the first meeting and giving them a big hug after that it was like a full circle moment."

COULD YOU TELL ME A BIT ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE DOING NOW?

"…outside of track. I've focus more on training. I mean, beforehand, it was like doing my podcast stuff, I've helped some people with their businesses. Things like that. But I've been definitely more focused now and pretty much still in my relationship. I've been for a long time, he was an Olympian as well, we've been together in Florida, and then just kind of working on a couple of projects that I won't go too much into because we're at the starting point. A lot of it is my training and just spending time with friends making Florida more of my home, I'm here a lot longer than I had anticipated. So now just enjoying that honestly."

AS A FORMER BUFF WHAT WOULD YOU TELL THE CURRENT ATHLETES?

"… do the little things and appreciate the journey. Definitely it goes by fast. I think a lot of people feel they can rely on their talent. And there's a lot of talented athletes out there. And there's going to be a point where the talent will only take you so far. And I believe that's definitely what separated me, and Burke will say it all the time. I had a very good work ethic, and I did the little things off the track especially too. To take care of myself and prepare, and the athletes that are there now if they do that, they'll start to beat the people who may be more talented than them or a better ranking or whatever. And that's how you can be successful."

AND FUTURE BUFFS?

"Make your own hype. Don't rely on the school having to be this big thing or if one year this program is doing good or not doing good especially in track, it's an individual sport. You can make it whatever you want. You can make it a great year. A great time there. If you don't put your all into it, you won't have the best time. Make your own hype. Don't believe in all the hype for everything else. Even have your own story in your own journey."

Players Mentioned

Abbey Glynn

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