Despite the roaring crowd and cheering from teammates, the track is silent to all of those who are on it as they approach the next hurdle. One, two, three, jump, one two, three, jump.
Once the tenth hurdle has been cleared, over the 400 meters that make up a lap, sophomore Warrior KayC Wharton can finally catch her breath and usually smile at her success.
“I’m really excited that my times have been dropping. I want to see them continue to drop,” Wharton said.
Previously, Wharton was a stand out athlete at South Torrance High School, where she not only reigned over the hurdles but also the soccer field.
As a Warrior, she continued her outstanding career in both sports. This past fall, she was the soccer team’s top scorer.
With her top academic performance, it looked like Wharton would be offered athletic and academic scholarships from almost any school. Everything seemed to change at the last soccer game of the season.
“I jumped against the goal keeper, she came down on top of me,” Wharton said. “I landed on my feet, but the added pressure from the keeper caused the bone to keep bending until it broke.”
Wharton had broken her left ankle, the major weight bearing bone of the foot. That event was followed by more than three months in a cast and crutches, then an intense round of rehab for another two months.
When her ankle had finally healed, the track and field team was already half way through their season.
“It’s been hard getting back, not just physically but mentally,” Wharton said. “You don’t want to get re-injured.”
Wharton’s coach, Kevin Hughley, noticed that when she first returned to the track she was apprehensive approaching the hurdles.
“She is not the type to complain, and never asked me to back off at practices,” Hughley said. “As soon as she got going on the hurdles, the problem was over.”
“It bothers me a little, but not too much,” Wharton said.
The injury has definitely not hindered her ability to get around the track and clear all her jumps in a minute.
The injury has also not affected her academic standing. Wharton was recently awarded the prestigious Ray Southstone Hall of Fame Scholarship award for the top academic performance at EC.
“I’m planning to transfer and hopefully keep running, I just don’t know where yet,” Wharton said.
Among her coach and teammates Wharton is known for her perseverance and drive.
Hughley describes the future business finance major as “having a heart as big as a mountain.”
“She pushes, even though she might fall,” Shale’ Garland, fellow sprinter and relay team member, said.
For anyone else who gets injured, she has this advice: “No matter how impossible it may feel to get back to where you were, you’ll get there. Even if it’s 10 times harder, it will be really rewarding.”