This is the latest in the series of feature stories about the legends of the past decade who make up our prestigious All-Decade Team. Today's feature is Kayla Hale, the recent graduate of Holy Trinity, and state champion many times over. She will attend Duke University starting this fall.
KAYLA HALE
One could say Kayla Hale has the midas touch. Her poor father may have to add an extension on the house if Kayla keeps up this pace: four cross country team titles, four individual cross country championships, two team championships in track & field, two more golds in the 4x800 relay, two 1600 meter titles, and five 3200 meter gold medals. And that's just the golds!
As I noted in an article after the 1A state meet this year, it is a little emotional for me personally to see Kayla graduate and move on to college. It's kind of the end of an era. You see Ms. Hale has been a part of Florida running for just about as long as this web site has! She first came on our radar way back in 2002, with a 20:24 performance at our third annual flrunners.com Invitational when it was held back in Winter Haven! She was just a sixth grader then and finished in 18th place, second on a very young Holy Trinity team that upset the supposed best team in the state, Our Lady of Lourdes. It was the beginning of the dynasty that has lasted all decade long lead by Coach Doug Butler and his Tigers... and to some extent lead by Kayla Hale, since she has been the teams #1 runner for all but the first two years. She finished as their fifth that year at the state meet in 24th place with a time of 20:43. But that would change very quickly.
Coach Butler saw potential in the then 12-year-old Kayla Hale rounding out his first state championship team, but said he had no idea at the time the superstar she would one day become. Remember at the time Holy Trinity was filled with young starlets. That year Lindsey Putnam was the oldest member of the varsity team--a freshman--and number one runner Chelsea Joiner was just an eighth grader. With female distance runners especially, progress is certainly never a given as teenage distractions, other sports, and nature have a way of interfering.
Between sixth grade and seventh grade though, something happend for Kayla. She learned to love the sport and to trust her coach. Butler described Kayla as sort of the perfect storm of a runner: mentaility, dedication, passion, body type, disposition, and talent.
"She's 100% coachable," Butler explained, "She's always been completely humble and even modest about her abilities."
Though the youngest member of the team, she stepped up into sort of a leadership role that next year on and off the course. Butler said reflecting on her role on the team: "Even in junior high, she was really a team leader. She's always cared as much about her teammates as she has about her own running. That's rare among elite runners."
She ended her sophomore cross country season as the team's number two runner at the state meet with a huge PR of 19:04 to help Holy Trinity to their second championship. From then on it was Kayla's team. That spring she won her first state championship in the 3200.
She made steady progress throughout her career in cross country (as her career graph shows), finishing fourth place at the state meet in cross country her eighth grade year in 18:30. She improved her 3200 PR to 11:09 that track season, but was just edged out by sophomore Hailey Mercer (who collected the 1600 title as well) for the state championship.
Starting with her freshman year, she would sweep every 1A cross country and 3200 meter state championship for the remainder of her career. And had it not been for that pesky Hailey (Mercer) Neal who nipped Kayla in the 1600 until she graduated in 2007, Kayla would have had three more 1600 wins and another 3200 gold! I suppose she'll have to settle for a "measley" 11 individual championships.
Something perhaps more important for the course of her running career than her first XC title happened that freshman cross country season. Kayla made her first trip up to Footlocker South at McAlpine Park in North Carolina. In that race she set a new PR of 17:58 and got infected with the Footlocker bug. She finished in 24th place (the 5th Floridian) and saw Bona Jones and Kelly Parrish qualify for nationals. She wanted to make that trip too!
Her sophomore year was really the breakthrough cross country season for Ms. Hale. She finished in second place to Ashley Brasovan at the flrunners.com Invitational 7 with a huge new personal best time of 17:15. She won another state championship at Little Everglades in 17:32. Then she dropped a 17:19 at Footlocker South to finish in sixth place and grab a qualifying spot along with Emilie Amaro. She got the royal treatment at Footlocker Nationals in San Diego (finished 21st) and decided to make a habit of the trip.
Her junior year, after having a similarly successful season with a 17:13 at region and 17:35 championship at state, she had the race of her life. Racing a smooth, well-paced and smart race at Footlocker South, former national champion Kathy Kroeger had a comfortable lead. But with about 100 meters to go Kayla put on the after-burners and closed the gap, surprising Kroeger, who scrambled to respond. With a little elbow-action Kroeger managed to hold on to the lead in one of the closest and most exciting Footlocker South finishes ever. (Watch the video here)
So finishing in second place, she again qualified for nationals. Emilie Amaro returned with her that year and Ashley Brasovan and Brittany Koziara made for a large Florida contingent. The four became really good friends along the way and, in fact, Brasovan (who won the national title that year) and Hale will be rooming together at Duke this fall. Kayla finished 19th in that race (video interview).
Her senior season, Kayla once again won her state titles and qualified for Footlocker Nationals. In doing so she joined a truly elite club. Even out of the greatest athletes this country has seen over the past 30 years, few have managed to qualify for Footlocker Nationals three times. That feat puts her in an elite club that few can match... and none in Florida ever has.
Most recently and as the final cap stone to her high school career, Kayla ran an "easy, fun, relaxed, no pressure" race at the RunningZone.com All-Star Showdown. In her first 5000 meters ever on the track she ran a time of 16:53.27, which ranks her third in the country with only one weekend left this track season.
A truly remarkable career!
Interview
When you reflect back on your high school career what are you most proud of?
Wow. That is a tough one. I have been so incredibly blessed to have had so many awesome exeriences during high school. I would say that making it to Footlocker Nationals would definitely be at the top. My three trips there were the most memorable of my life and gave me the confidence that I could compete with the best. But, the championships that I have shared with my team were just as amazing!
Who or what things made the biggest impacts on your success?
Without a doubt, I give SO much credit to Coach Butler. He is the best coach I could have ever asked for and I was able to trust him 100% with my running. He knew what it would take to get me to where I wanted to be, and I was able to follow his lead. Also, my family who has always been there to support me and let me travel places to compete. And the entire team at Holy Trinity created the best environment to run and improve! I love them all and am really going to miss them!!!
Who were some of the athletes you remember that you loved competing against?
I've definitely had certain people who I always seemed to race year after year. As a team, we started out racing against Oak Hall a lot, which was fun because we all became great friends. Episcopal also was always the team we had our eyes on. As for individuals, both Hailey and Hillary Neal always pushed me in cross country and track. And it is always fun to race with Ashley, Britany, and Emilie. We all became friends and it was just funny to laugh and have fun and then get all serious when it was time to race. Right when we ended it was back to being friends..I love that about this sport! :)
What are some of your fondest memories from high school athletics?
There are so many! But Footlocker was one of my greatest memories (and seeing Kyle, Bret, Adam, and Kyle with my name painted on thier chests haha). All of the crazy long bus trips with the Holy Trinity team and countless 6AM mornings together created SO many friendships and memories that I will always cherish.
Looking forward to your college career and beyond, what are you hoping to accomplish or become both as a runner and life in general?
People who know that Im a little obsessed with running :) always want to know how far I want to go with running. Honestly, I really dont know. Right now, Im just looking forward to running in college and achieving all that I can! Running will always be a part of my life and i'm looking forward to where it could take me. There is so much I want to do beyond running as well so Im planning to just take it day by day. In the more immediate future, im planning to become a blue devil in a couple of weeks :)
What else do you want to add or say to the flrunners.com community?
I really just want to say thank you. You have all been such an important part of my life and I can not tell you all enough how much all the support has meant to me. I feel blessed to have met so many great athletes as well as fans of the sport. I hope that I am able to give back and help some of you as you all have done for me. Its great to know that as I head to Duke, I will always be a part of the flrunners community! <3
