Fab Five: Derek Brajevich

Photographs have the ability to capture important pieces of our past and help us recall people, places, feelings, and memories that made an impact on our lives. For many scholar-athletes, pictures secure those special moments and assist in making their collegiate careers last forever.

In a feature called “Fab Five”, Triton scholar-athletes are tasked to pick five of their favorite photos to be highlighted on UCSDtritons.com. 

In this installment, Derek Brajevich looks back on his 2022 track and field season. 

A senior in 2022, Derek was one of the team's captains, competing mainly in the 400 and long jump for the Tritons. He posted his best 400-meter time of the season, 50.88 seconds, on home soil at the Triton Invitational, also making his collegiate long jump debut at the meet. He recorded his personal best leap of 20' 6.5" at UC Riverside's Chris Rinne Invitational two weeks later. 

Derek graduated from Muir College in June with his bachelor's degree in communication. He will return for a fifth season with the Tritons as a graduate student in 2023.

1. Go Tritons

Our 2022 season was punctuated by a ceremony for our retiring coaching staff. This upcoming year will be my, my teammates', and the university's first year in a long time without Coaches Tony, Darcy, and Mick there to guide us through our year and season. I’m sure I speak for myself and the rest of my team when I say that we are both eagerly awaiting to work with and learn from our amazing new coaches, while still missing those that have shared so many highs, lows, tears and laughs with us. I led a team cheer that included a few hundred alumni from our team (along with some former and current team captains) to end the speaking I did at the ceremony. Seeing all these people here to celebrate our coaches solidified something I already knew. The whole reason I came to UC San Diego. This team loves each other, I love this team. Life is hard, college is hard, and I don’t know who or where I’d be without these people. Coaches and teammates alike, if you’re reading this, I’m beyond grateful and blessed to have you in my life. Tell the people you love that you love them. Go Tritons :)

2. Skywalker

I’ve done track for a long time, but the last time I long jumped was when I was 11 years old. Coach Darcy took a chance on me this season after seeing me jump well at practice. I am beyond grateful she decided to help me shape what little experience I had in the event into something resembling proper technique. I’m not particularly tall, and when I used to play volleyball I was even less so, but I could jump. My first club team gave me the nickname Skywalker, and it’s very cool to see all these years later they were right. Keep an eye out for 2023.

3. The Zone

Call it what you will, the zone, the edge, butterflies, pre-race jitters, we’ve all been there. For me, it can start the hour I start warming up for a race or a month before a race takes place, each competition is a little different. I used to treat the zone like a miniature battlefield in my head, like some kind of battle I had to overcome. Since being in college my mindset has changed. Sprinting is paradoxical, it is an exercise of high intensity relaxation, you run your fastest when you aren’t actually trying to run your fastest. So now “The Zone” for me is more about centering myself, about visualizing the competition to come, and making sure my body and mind are ready to compete.

4. Set…

It’s such a small amount of time, the space between set and go, between staring at the ground and the blast of adrenaline you receive hearing the starting pistol. It’s a space many athletes are familiar with and one that you can only grow more accustomed to with repetition. It’s a space of decision, where overthinking turns into no thought at all, just GO. We train for this everyday at practice, going over race strategy, proper technique, proper competition mindset, all so that once that gun goes off you can trust your training and let it fly.

5. Individual Sport

I’m sure you’ve heard the adage that track & field is an "individual sport.” I know what folks are trying to say when they throw that my way, often making pleasant small talk, but personally I’ve never felt that. My team is the whole reason I’m still here. This is a photo of Triton legend, dog dad and all around cool dude Jake Selstad after breaking UC San Diego’s 800m school record (the first time) with myself and a few teammates coming up to him. This is what this sport is about. I’ve run hundreds of races. I’ve won many, lost many. I have my favorites, I have ones that didn’t go to plan, and a bunch In the middle. But at the end of the day almost every race I’ve run kind of fades in my memory. The things that stick, for myself at least, are these moments. Seeing your friends accomplish amazing things, things you knew they were capable of, and sharing in that joy. The joy of doing things you love with people you love.