“Nobody ever likes me. Nobody ever likes me, nobody ever gives me the respect I feel I deserve. And ever since middle school, ever since you’ve been watching me, every year people always projecting other people to beat me. It took me three years to finally be projected to win state, even though I was the three-time state champ. I was always projected to lose at Super 32, and I was always projected to be second, always projected to be third. That always drives me.”

Photograph: Julie Jacobson/AP