Clearing hurdles
By Joe Scalzo
Warrior mentality keys Kring’s success
The West Branch junior battles injuries as she goes for return trip to the state track meet.
Taylor Kring is a junior at West Branch with the fitness regimen of a 35-year-old pro athlete.
Every morning, she downs a bagful of vitamins and a big protein drink. After afternoon practice, she wraps her body in ice.
“I always get lectured on ‘ice, ice, ice,’ ” she said, smiling. “So, I’m just being smart this year.”
Two years ago, Kring won a state 100-meter hurdles title and finished second in both the 300 hurdles and the 4x400 relay despite suffering mono, two torn hip flexors and a broken foot in the months leading up to the state meet.
Last year, she had a torn ligament behind her knee that kept sidelined for much of the season. Although she finished third in the 100 hurdles and sixth in the 300 hurdles in Columbus, it was obvious she didn’t have quite the same burst.
At this point of the story, it’s worth reiterating that this is a track athlete we’re talking about.
Unless you’re a pole vaulter, your biggest injury risk is supposed to be a strained hamstring or a case of the “I hate running the 400”-itis.
Not Kring. She attacks her main events like, well, a Warrior, with one eye on the hurdle and the other on the clock. And that comes at a price.
“It’s always been indoor [track],” she said, when asked how she keeps getting hurt. “I’d go right from soccer to basketball to running indoor then straight to conditioning.
“I was wearing down my knees and my hips and by the end of the season, they’d had it.”
Not this year. At the risk of jinxing her, she enters Thursday’s Division II regional healthy and faster than she’s ever been at this point of the season. At Saturday’s district meet, she won the 100 hurdles in meet-record time, finished second in the 100 (an event she may drop), and won district titles in the 300 hurdles and the 4x400.
“I’ve dreamed about being healthy for one season and it’s finally coming true,” she said. “That’s made it a lot easier to run my best times.
“I’ve always run my best times at state and then it was over. Now I’m getting my best times during the season.”
That’s good for Kring’s medal hopes, obviously, but it’s also good for the Warriors, who finished fourth at the state meet two years ago.
With senior Emilee Zets eyeing a repeat state title in the 800, and with some solid depth, including sophomore 400 standout Taylor Metzgar, West Branch should be in the mix for a state team title. (Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy is probably the favorite at this point.)
“It’s always possible,” said Zets. “If we work hard in practice, there’s a chance.”
Added Kring, “If Zets can win [the 800], if our 4x400 can place high, and if I can win the 100 and 300, I think we have a very good chance.”
That’s a lot of ifs.
But at least this year, none of them involve Kring’s health.
scalzo@vindy.com