North Carolina State University Athletics
PEELER: Senior Lawson Qualifies for NCAA Championships
5/28/2010 12:00:00 AM | Track
BY TIM PEELER
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Kayla Lawson was so frustrated with the way she performed throughout the women's outdoor track and field season, she declined to participate in any of the half-dozen or so last-chance meets her NC State teammates have competed in since last month's ACC Championships.
Instead, Lawson stayed in Raleigh, worked out constantly and tried to refine the fundamentals in her event, the high jump, as she prepared to compete in the NCAA East Outdoor Track and Field Regional, which began Thursday afternoon on the campus of North Carolina A&T.
Something clicked during those long workouts at the Paul H. Derr Track, because Thursday evening Lawson had the best competition of her four-year career.
The former walk-on from Westerville, Ohio, posted her personal record and was one of two Wolfpack women athletes to advance to the NCAA Championships, which will be held from June 9-12 in Eugene, Ore. The other was sophomore shot-putter Lawanda Henry, who qualified for the national meet for the second year in a row.
Lawson advanced with a series of good jumps - she missed just twice all day long. In her final leap, she easily cleared a personal-best 5-feet, 11 inches, causing veteran track coach Rollie Geiger to jump nearly as high out of his folding chair as Lawson jumped over the bar.
"I am just so happy right now," said Lawson, who had never qualifed for the championship meet in her first three years of competition. "I wanted so badly to finish with a bang this year, since it is my last season. It didn't look like that was going to happen. I was very disappointed with my performance at the ACC meet.
"I took a lot of time off between the conference meet and now because I needed to get away from it. I needed a break. I haven't really jumped well since the indoor season. I think I only had one good outdoor meet."
Until Thursday, that is. She paced nervously on the infield, while the NC State track and field coaches watched from outside the track. She never looked over to jumps coach Chris Coleman for advice. She simply kept making her jumps and advancing to the next height, as others slowly dropped out of the three-hour competition.
"Usually, I talk to my coach a lot," Lawson said. "But I wanted to keep to myself and keep competing."
Lawson arrived at NC State as a walk-on who came south from Ohio simply because she always like the area when her family vacationed here when she was growing up. She eventually earned a scholarship and has been a solid contributor throughout her four seasons with the Wolfpack.
"She is such a terrific young lady, from an outstanding family," Geiger said. "She loves being here at NC State. What you always want at the end of four or five years for an athlete to look you in the eye and say 'This was the right place for me to be.'
"You have to feel good about that."
Especially when a career ends at the peak of competition, at the NCAA Championship.
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
