Veronica Fraley, the reigning Southeastern Conference women's discus throw champion representing Vanderbilt who ranks No. 3 in the United States and 16th in the world this year at 208-4 (63.51m), joins DyeStat editor Erik Boal to discuss competing July 9 at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. Fraley finished 17th representing the United States at last year's World Athletics Championships and is looking to qualify again to compete in August in Budapest, Hungary. She reflects on achieving a lifetime-best throw June 24 at the USATF NYC Grand Prix at Icahn Stadium on Randall's Island in New York, and how significant it was for her to rebound after a disappointing 17th-place finish July 10 at the NCAA Division 1 Championships in Austin, Texas. Fraley explains how meaningful it has been to have the support and wisdom and perspective of Ashley Kovacs and Joe Kovacs, and how beneficial their insight has been in her improvement. She speaks about how beneficial it has been to compete against international athletes like Oregon's Jorinde Van Klinken and Florida's Alida Van Daalen from The Netherlands, along with Florida State's Caisa-Marie Lindfors from Sweden and Virginia's Ashley Anumba from Nigeria. She also shares how valuable it has been to compete against American record holder Valarie Allman, in addition to Laulauga Tausaga-Collins, Elena Bruckner and Micaela Hazlewood among her U.S. peers. Fraley analyzes how valuable the experience was competing at last year's World Athletics Championships and the motivation it has created to want to compete in Europe for the first time in her career. She also highlights what an empowering time it is for American female throwers following the success of all event groups last year at the global final in Oregon. Fraley also speaks about returning to Vanderbilt for her final year and how profound the strides taken by the women's athletes were this year for the future of the program under head coach Althea Thomas, including All-Americans Beatrice Juskeviciute in the heptathlon and Brooke Overholt in the 400-meter hurdles.