Kaylee Hurley earns state runner-up honors
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
COLUMBUS — McClain freshman Kaylee Hurley was the OHSAA State Runner-Up in the 400-meter wheelchair race, as she participated in four events at the 2014 OHSAA State Track and Field Championships.
Not only did Hurley place second in the 400m race, she was also second in the wheelchair shot put, third in the 800m race and third in the 100m dash at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
An excited Hurley spoke after her 400m state runner-up finish.
"It was awesome," Hurley told The Higland County Press of the race. "I pushed myself so much harder, having someone in front of me. It was so awesome.
"I pushed harder, because I wanted to be as close as I could. I expected that one to be a good one, and it turned out well."
[[In-content Ad]]Hurley was one of the first five female wheelchair athletes to ever participate in the wheelchair events in the OHSAA Track & Field Championships, as there was just one racer last year in the female events.
This year there were five total female racers, with Jenna Fesemyer (Southeast) returning to competition this year.
As for McClain's Hurley, for her 400m event (a race between all five females), she finished at 1:17.20. At the state championships, Hurley improved her previous personal best mark in the 400m by 14.72 seconds (1:31.92).
In the shot put event, Hurley's best throw was her final one at 14-07.50. Her other three throws were 13-10, 14-00.50 and 14-04.25.
To qualify to compete at state, Hurley's previous best throw was 11-06.75.
The improvement was also seen for the freshman in her state debut in the 800m race, the first race she competed in on the day. On Saturday, she had a time of 2:56.02, vastly improving on her previous personal best time of 3:22.75.
"It's been a crazy, wonderful experience," MHS girls track & field coach Lori Jones said. "She was really nervous before the 800, and that's not really her favorite, so it was kind of nice to get that done first.
"It (was) an awesome day with all the personal bests, and it's been definitely nice for her to compete against other wheelchair athletes and see where she's at compared to them. I think she's right up there where we thought she was going to be."
In her final race of the day, Hurley placed third in the 100m dash with a time of 23.78. Her state qualifying time was 23.92.
"The 800 was tough," Hurley said. "It was my first event, so I had crazy nerves. Shot put, I PRed by three feet, so that was awesome.
"I'm really excited for my 100 race also. It's amazing. I thought I was going to be really nervous having all these people here, but it's really encouraging. It's awesome, and I love it."
Jones spoke highly of Hurley's future as she still had three years left of high school competition.
"Kaylee is definitely a competitor, and she's going to go after whoever's in front of her and do the best that she can," Jones said. "I think that really showed (Saturday). She's just going out with the attitude that she wants to win.
"She's not here just to be satisfied with being here, and that's what she said earlier: 'I want to win, I want to win.' I said 'You've got to have fun,' and she said, 'But I want to win.'
"I think that's just a great mentality. To be able to finish the year with some personal bests, she's just been running great today, and she has three more years left. She's going to show nothing but improvement."
Not only did Hurley place second in the 400m race, she was also second in the wheelchair shot put, third in the 800m race and third in the 100m dash at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
An excited Hurley spoke after her 400m state runner-up finish.
"It was awesome," Hurley told The Higland County Press of the race. "I pushed myself so much harder, having someone in front of me. It was so awesome.
"I pushed harder, because I wanted to be as close as I could. I expected that one to be a good one, and it turned out well."
[[In-content Ad]]Hurley was one of the first five female wheelchair athletes to ever participate in the wheelchair events in the OHSAA Track & Field Championships, as there was just one racer last year in the female events.
This year there were five total female racers, with Jenna Fesemyer (Southeast) returning to competition this year.
As for McClain's Hurley, for her 400m event (a race between all five females), she finished at 1:17.20. At the state championships, Hurley improved her previous personal best mark in the 400m by 14.72 seconds (1:31.92).
In the shot put event, Hurley's best throw was her final one at 14-07.50. Her other three throws were 13-10, 14-00.50 and 14-04.25.
To qualify to compete at state, Hurley's previous best throw was 11-06.75.
The improvement was also seen for the freshman in her state debut in the 800m race, the first race she competed in on the day. On Saturday, she had a time of 2:56.02, vastly improving on her previous personal best time of 3:22.75.
"It's been a crazy, wonderful experience," MHS girls track & field coach Lori Jones said. "She was really nervous before the 800, and that's not really her favorite, so it was kind of nice to get that done first.
"It (was) an awesome day with all the personal bests, and it's been definitely nice for her to compete against other wheelchair athletes and see where she's at compared to them. I think she's right up there where we thought she was going to be."
In her final race of the day, Hurley placed third in the 100m dash with a time of 23.78. Her state qualifying time was 23.92.
"The 800 was tough," Hurley said. "It was my first event, so I had crazy nerves. Shot put, I PRed by three feet, so that was awesome.
"I'm really excited for my 100 race also. It's amazing. I thought I was going to be really nervous having all these people here, but it's really encouraging. It's awesome, and I love it."
Jones spoke highly of Hurley's future as she still had three years left of high school competition.
"Kaylee is definitely a competitor, and she's going to go after whoever's in front of her and do the best that she can," Jones said. "I think that really showed (Saturday). She's just going out with the attitude that she wants to win.
"She's not here just to be satisfied with being here, and that's what she said earlier: 'I want to win, I want to win.' I said 'You've got to have fun,' and she said, 'But I want to win.'
"I think that's just a great mentality. To be able to finish the year with some personal bests, she's just been running great today, and she has three more years left. She's going to show nothing but improvement."