Clearing a height of 13 feet 1 inch, junior Kayla Caldwell finished second in the nation at the NCAA Division II Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championships this March — and she did it all with a fractured shin.
But Caldwell is no stranger to injury. Before she was a track and field star, Caldwell was a promising gymnast. She started her gymnastics career at the age of five, rigorously trained for at least four hours every day. By the time she was seven, she began competing regularly. During the summer before eighth grade, Caldwell was invited to train at a gym in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she would be prepared to potentially compete in the Olympic games. Tragically, Kayla’s dreams of Olympic glory were cut short by injuries.
“I messed up some disks in my back, and I had short achilles tendons, so the doctors didn’t want me to do competitive gymnastics anymore,” Caldwell said.
Though she could no longer compete in gymnastics at the level that she had hoped, Caldwell quickly turned towards track as a competitive outlet after watching her brother’s junior high school meets.
“I decided I would run,” Caldwell said. “After breaking records in the 100, 200, 400 [meter dashes] and the 4×100, 4×200, and 4×400 [relays], I thought, ‘Hey this is fun. I’m good at this.’”
As Caldwell adjusted to track and field, and just two weeks into her high school track season, she was approached by her team’s pole vault coach. He felt that Caldwell’s gymnastics experience would translate perfectly into pole vaulting.
“The similarity between gymnastics and pole vaulting is that you have to be very aware of your body and where it’s at in the air,” Caldwell said. “What attracts me the most to pole vaulting is that it’s scary like gymnastics. Like gymnastics, pole vaulting is a sport that not a lot of people can do.”
Yet Caldwell does it and does it well. Seven years of hard work have put her in the national spotlight, though there have been hardships along the way. Due to a stress-fractured shin, Caldwell had to train especially hard in order to compete at nationals.
“When Kayla was injured, we worked on many things that were parts of her event that would make the whole thing much better when they were put back together,” said Jeff Forino, head men’s track coach.
As the former assistant coach of both the men’s and women’s track teams, Forino worked with Caldwell on various strengthening movements that were instrumental in preparing her for national contention. Forino credited Caldwell’s work ethic and composure as key components to her success during the indoor season.
“Kayla is a fantastic athlete all around,” he said. “When she is having a really positive attitude toward anything that she does, she is almost unstoppable.”
Senior teammate Chelsea Wackernagel and fellow pole vaulter said Caldwell’s positive attitude has been a big benefit to her other teammates.
“Kayla is extremely passionate about what she does,” Wackernagel said. “She loves track, and her passion for it can be contagious.”
This winning mentality comes from Caldwell’s desire to be the best. Even in the midst of injury and intense physical therapy, she had her sights set on that No. 1 spot.
“The night before nationals I wrote down that I wanted to jump a 13 feet 5 inches, even though I hadn’t even jumped passed 13 feet,” Caldwell said. “It was a stretch, but I was trying to believe it.”
Second place is certainly nothing to scoff at, and though Caldwell is proud of her performance, she said she is not satisfied.
“I was happy at first, but then I was disappointed because I wanted to beat my best,” Caldwell said.
After qualifying for outdoor nationals last week, she has even higher expectations for herself.
“I’m going to get first,” she said.
