Emerald Ridge track coach Gary Osborne knows what he’s seeing when hurdler Kayla Stueckle glides effortlessly over the aluminum obstacles.
But he wonders if Stueckle is aware of what she’s accomplishing with every leap and bound.
“I think she doesn’t know how good she is,” Osborne said.
The Jaguars junior enters the South Puget Sound League track and field championships today looking to begin a postseason march that culminates with a pair of state titles. Maybe even three.
Stueckle has the state’s fastest times, regardless of classification, in the 100-meter hurdles (14.39 seconds) and 300 hurdles (43.41). No one is close to her in the 100.
She beat defending 4A state champion Shaquana Logan of Bellarmine Prep by a half-second at the Pasco Invitational last month. The long-legged Stueckle is even more dominant in the 300, the event she won at Star Track as a sophomore. Her mark is 1.5 seconds better than any other hurdler in the state.
Osborne expects the gaps to widen.
“The technique aspect, she’s still figuring it out,” he said. “She’s just getting started.”
Emerald Ridge hurdlers coach Chris Susee recalls seeing a photo of Stueckle from last year’s state track meet that shows her improvement.
“She was going over the hurdle and she was about a foot over it in the photo,” he said.
“She’s not going so high anymore. She’s just clearing the hurdle and that puts her back on the ground quicker and makes her time faster.”
How fast?
Stueckle has shaved nearly a full second – .97 of a second, to be exact – off her personal-best in the 100 hurdles from last season. Her mark in the 300 hurdles is marginally faster, .07 of a second.
Far from relying solely on her superior athletic ability, Stueckle has bought into the finer points of hurdling.
“The 100 is more technical than the 300,” she said. “The hurdles aren’t spaced as far apart and there’s less time to sprint. Technique plays a big role.”
While Stueckle is a clear favorite in the hurdles at state, she’s among the best in the 200-meter sprint, too. Her time of 24.84 seconds is the top time in 4A. She earned the mark only the third time she ran the race.
“I remember we had some warm weather on that day and that helped,” Stueckle said. “That I was running against (Curtis senior Andrea) Geubelle gave me good competition.”
Stueckle plans to compete in the long jump, too. She placed fifth in the event at state last year and has a personal-best leap of 18 feet, 11/4 inches, good enough for second-best in the state this season. But she harbors little hope of overtaking Geubelle for the title. Geubelle, who has a track scholarship to the University of Kansas, is the state leader in the triple jump and long jump. Her mark in the long jump is more than 22 inches better than Stueckle’s.
“I’ll take a close second in that event,” Stueckle said. “That would be OK.”
With another year to go before she graduates – Stueckle says she has received recruiting interest from a handful of schools, but has made no decisions. Osborne said Stueckle’s future is bright.
“She could make a tremendous heptathlete,” he said. “She’s tall, athletic, fast, strong.
“She’s a stud and we haven’t seen her best yet. Not by a long shot.”
Doug Pacey: 253-597-8271
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