Kayla Blair '16 Recruiting Profile

I'm aiming to get a degree in Orthodontics / Dentistry from a college/university where I can compete in track & field. Ideally the collegiate environment would allow me to bring a dedicated, competitive, and good sportsmanlike athlete to its athletic program, while embracing a strong, civic, and academic individual to its environment.  

While I have been involved in various sports over the years, I decided to focus on the true passion of mine, running, in my freshmen year of high school. My favorite events are the 800m, 600m, 4x400 and high jump, and during that initial year my race times continued to get faster each meet, and as such, I was given the chance to compete in the state championship meet as part of the 4x400 meter relay team.  I am proud that not only did we win the event and became state champions, where we also broke the school record; our team was overall state champions for the first time in nearly 20 years.

Besides my career goal of being in the dentistry field, athletically I am continuing to strive to improve my times each and every season and meet, and am reaching to achieve my goal of a sub 2:10 in the 800m by the time I graduate in 2016.   Additionally, I would love an opportunity to compete in the Olympics and represent our Country like one of my heroes, Jackie Joyner-Kersee.  While I love mid-distance running, my interest in competing in multiple events was sparked when I competed in the heptathlon in 2013.  Prior to the meet, my coach gave me the chance to compete in various events (400, 200 and 100 meter dashes; 4x400, 4x100, and 4x800 meter relays; pole vault, and triple jump ) besides my normal mid-distance and relay runs and I’m proud that I was as successful in those.  

That success gave me confidence going into the 2013 heptathlon, but I also feel that this was a turning point in my love for track and field.  Not only was the experience fun, but my success made me realize that I could go far in a sport that I enjoy so much. While going into the second day I was proud to be in the top 25, as a freshman, however having a strong 800 meter run, I ended up finishing 13th place out of about 80 girls, and in 2014 improved that further to finish 5th overall.  From this moment on, I concluded that running, jumping and throwing could be a large part of my athletic career and all I want to do is get better.  

It is a great feeling knowing that my hard work, and dedication has helped my growth as an athlete.  As a result of my dedication to track, I have learned to be dedicated to the clubs and classes I participate in, such as Big Brothers / Big Sisters, Student Government, Interact, and Student Council.  Although I am very busy with track, I still manage to get all my school work done, and am currently 2nd in my class academically, and attend my student government and student council meetings where I am able to give back to the community.  Without my experiences in track, I would not have learned what it is like to have to be dedicated and focused on what you love to do.