GALION — Kerrigan Myers is shattering the record books for the Galion High School track program.
She has racked up medals in the Division II state meets for both indoor and outdoor track, but now she’s also qualified for this year’s New Balance National Indoor Track and Field Championships March 8-10 in New York City.
And she’s only a junior.
“She’s just a hard-working kid. She does everything we ask her to do,” Galion head track coach Todd Roston said. “She’s gotten better every year. She’s lowered her times consistently. We’re looking for big things out of her this season.”
Myers, 16, will compete in the 60-meter hurdles at the New Balance Nationals, which is held at The Armory. She posted a time of 8.13 in the same event during the preliminaries at the Akron Rubber City Open Feb. 16. The qualifying time was 8.91.
Before heading to the Big Apple, however, the girls’ track sensation is gearing up for this Saturday’s (March 2) state indoor meet at the Spire Center in Geneva. Myers is seeded first in the high jump but will also run the 60-meter hurdles and 60-meter dash.
“I’m really hoping I can pull out a win for the high jump,” said Myers, who has cleared 5-feet-3-inches indoors and has an outdoor personal best of 5-feet-4.
“I don’t start getting nervous until they call my name on deck,” Myers said.
As a sophomore, Myers became the first girl in program history to qualify for state in four events — the high jump, 100-meter hurdles, 200-meter dash and 4 x 100 relay. She placed sixth in the hurdles and finished seventh as the second leg of the relay team with Marissa Gwinner, Jalyn Oswald and Brooklyn Cosey.
Myers is the school’s record-holder in both the 100-meter hurdles and 200-meter dash. For indoor track, her accolades are plenty — school records in the 60-meter hurdles, 60-meter dash, 4×100, 4×200 and the pole vault.
Not bad for an athlete who, until seventh grade, was racing on a different kind of track.
Kerrigan, the daughter of Jerry and Susan Myers, grew up “karting” — racing small open-wheeled vehicles or go-carts on dirt tracks. Her family owned a cage kart, which she started driving when she was eight years old.
“We were like really into that,” Kerrigan said, noting she competed in her last kart race in Cardington. “It was mostly kind of like a fun thing to do. My dad got me into it and that’s how I started.”
In seventh grade Myers, who had never participated in any school sport, was recruited by Roston, her math teacher.
“I had no idea what kind of athlete she was,” Roston said. “We knew we had something good, though, after her eight-grade year.”
In the beginning, Myers tried running distance, then switched to working out with sprinters and pole vaulters.
“My friends were doing distance, so I tried it but realized distance was not my thing,” she related. “I didn’t have any endurance.”
She made her first jump in middle school, too, and by ninth grade was excelling in other events as well.
“She’s just a hard-working kid. She listens. She’s very coachable,” said Roston, who took over the program in 2011 along with Colby Bright.
Myers’ successes carry over into the classroom, where she maintains a 3.778 G.P.A. and is a member of the National Honor Society. After graduation she has her heart set on veterinary school. She has a pet skunk, “Sam,” and has also cared for a snake and alligator.
For now, though, this humble student-athlete who also plays varsity volleyball has definitely found her niche. She’s practicing for Geneva, then preparing for the national stage and her first visit to New York City.
“It’s the coaches that make me want to come back,” Myers said. “Most of the coaches I’ve had as teachers too and that’s just one of the reasons I really love track.”