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New Boardman alum runs from adversity, reaches success
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Graduating seniors from Boardman High School’s Class of 2012 take time to ham it up in the courtyard of the high school after receiving their diplomas. The group includes, from left, Crawford Warrick, Brian Smith, Daniel Watkins, Zachary Zidian, Dan Popio and Zach Machuga.
BOARDMAN
The road to here and now has been anything but smooth for graduating senior Victoria Moore. Illness and injury have marked each of her years since eighth grade – hurdles that only fueled her determination to achieve.
Moore, 18, was born with pectus excavatum, a birth defect causing abnormal development of the rib cage. That causes the sternum to cave, sometimes leading to shortness of breath, chest pain and fatigue – symptoms not exactly compatible with competitive sports.
Yet the senior, who was among the 382 graduating from Boardman High School on Sunday, has big plans to further her running and academic careers. Later this month, she will travel to North Carolina to compete in the New Balance Nationals, part of the 4x800 meter relay team.
She will then have a nerve block to deal with ongoing pain, take a month off to rest and attend YSU in the fall to study early childhood education and continue running.
She is the daughter of the Rev. Mr. Jonathan and Paulette Moore and has three siblings who were all state competitors in track – something she said kept her going despite challenges.
Moore’s diagnosis was missed during the four years she lived in Senegal in western Africa. She was a child when her parents moved the family there for missionary work.
They eventually returned and she stayed active despite health problems. Moore played basketball and ran track and cross country in middle school.
She had a bar implanted in her chest in 2007 to stabilize her rib cage and sternum and had to repeat eighth grade because of missed days. Moore said she broke an ankle in ninth grade but didn’t know it and participated in a championship meet, which resulted in a cracked fibula. She was sidelined for basketball season.
The next year, she collapsed on the track and was taken to the hospital. The bar was rubbing against her sternum and she needed emergency surgery to remove it. Moore said cross country was going great her junior year but she came down with mononucleosis. Another trip to the emergency room brought a new diagnosis: an enlarged spleen. She sat out basketball season.
After cross country season began this year, Moore said her arm started going numb. She went to Cleveland Clinic for tests and was told that scar tissue from a previous surgery had caused nerve damage.
Despite these problems, Moore competed her freshman and junior years at the state level for indoor track and said she never gave up because of her competitive spirit and drive. She also managed to finish high school with a 3.4 GPA.
Moore said her faith in God and the support she received at home, church and in school sustained her.
She hopes to return to Africa after college and educate orphanage workers so they can, in turn, teach children to read and write. “I want to be able to give them hope,” she said.
Her struggles have taught her what’s really important, she said, adding that her athletic accomplishments and failures don’t define her as a person. “I want people to remember me for the way I treated others.”
Denise Gorski, head girls’ track coach at Boardman, said the school named Moore the Archie Griffin Most Courageous Athlete, an award given through the Ohio High School Athletic Association. She said Moore also received a leadership award this year from her peers.
“In my 34 years of coaching, I have not had a young lady who has fought through so much adversity physically” but still achieved so much, Gorski said. “I admire her because she is just an inspiration, not only to her teammates, but also to me.”
Principal Timothy Saxton urged Moore and her classmates to pay attention to the “guardrails” in life – the parents, friends, teachers, counselors and administrators who will guide them and steer them in the right direction.
Student Council President Elizabeth Bresnahan thanked the people in her life for helping her move forward. To her class she said, “Commencement is not the end; it’s a beginning, so let’s go out and do great things.”
Kiyan Taghaboni, 17, said he plans to do just that. He will attend Northern Kentucky University in the fall on a partial scholarship for speech. He plans to pursue psychology in his undergrad and become a psychiatrist.
He said the quality education he received at Boardman will take him where he wants to go. “I’m excited to actually know something when I get to [college],” he said.