Kary Sathre can’t recall too many details of the fall. She remembers training on the Centralia High School track, but that’s about it. Friends later informed her of the crash that resulted in her head bouncing off the turf. She takes their word for it since she did have the concussion to support the claims.
Gone were Sathre’s memories of the day, and also her chance of advancing to the state track and field championships in the hurdles for a third consecutive year.
A year later and fully healthy, Sathre is now focused on making up for some lost time and closing out her senior year at Centralia on a high note.
Sathre has participated in the 100 hurdles six times this season, coming up the victor in five of those races. Her only defeat has been at the 53rd annual Shaner Invitational at Tumwater where she actually stopped the clock in a season-best 16.29 seconds – the eighth best time in the event among 2A athletes this year.
She has fared equally strong in the 300 hurdles, triumphing twice with a top mark of 51.27 seconds.
Things were shaping up very similar during her junior campaign. Her times were constantly being trimmed in both the 100 and 300 hurdles every time she stepped out on the track, culminating with her performance at last year’s Panther Invite in Washougal where she posted personal records in both the 100 hurdles (16.03) and 300 hurdles (48.95).
Both times would have placed her among the top 10 at the Class 2A state meet.
A bungee made sure that didn’t happen. Participating in a speed/strength training exercise, which incorporated a tension bungee, Sathre saw her 2016 season end prematurely after being slammed to the ground by a recoil, which led to her injury.
“My partner was ahead of me and I was trying to run, but couldn’t do it,” Sathre said. “All of a sudden I just got snapped back and fell really hard. It whipped my head back and jostled my brain. It was a really bad experience, but I don’t remember that day at all.”
The incident caused Sathre to miss the sub-district/2A Evergreen Conference championships the following week.
She was eventually cleared to begin competing again the ensuing week. Due to her performance throughout the season, officials granted Sathre entrance into the district championships even though she failed to qualify through sub-districts.
“That was really a blessing that they granted me a pass to go to district,” Sathre said, “but I didn’t make it to state.”
Sathre advanced to state in the 300 hurdles as a freshman, placing 15th, and the 100 hurdles as a sophomore where she finished 12th.
“[Hurdles] were interesting at first. I actually picked it up really fast and it just became natural for me,” Sathre said about taking up the event. “The 100s are a lot faster and repetitive. The 300s you just have to have good running technique to run them, and work the corner. I actually enjoy both about the same. They’re the only events I do. I’ll run the 4 x 400 relay if the team needs me to. I tried the javelin last year. I wasn’t very good at it. So I will just stick with the hurdles.”
Remarkably, she’s accomplished everything this year while being the Tigers’ lone female hurdler.
“I just think people don’t understand what you have to put into the hurdles to see improvement,” Sathre said. “A lot of people don’t want to put in the work to improve.”
Sathre has certainly logged in the hours this season to make up for that one-year hiatus from the state meet.
She opened her senior year by helping the Tigers’ volleyball squad advance to the playoffs for a tenth consecutive season. An outside hitter, Sathre capped her high school volleyball career by playing in the all-state game.
More bad luck surfaced.
“The very first set of the all-state volleyball game, I severely sprained some ligaments in my foot and was out five weeks,” Sathre said. “I couldn’t believe it. I get the concussion last year and then hurt my foot.”
Despite the late start to the season, Sathre, who owns the fourth fastest time ever at Centralia in the 100 hurdles, has overcome every obstacle, whether real or metaphorically, that has been thrown her way the last year.
“Right now I am taking everything one step at a time, just making sure I make it over all the hurdles,” Sathre said. “The goal is to get back to state. That’s the hope.”
