This feature is a part of The Register?s Allen County Area Athletes of the Month series. At the end of each month, The Register nominates three male and three female athletes for readers to vote on and the winners get named Athlete of the Month and an opportunity to be featured in the paper throughout the next month. To nominate your favorite athlete, click here or email the sports desk at [email protected].
All of Allen County knows what Elysia Kunkler brings to the track and jumping pits.
Last spring as a junior, Kunkler qualified for three events in the state track meet. The Fillie track and field star medaled in two events, finishing second in the 100-meter hurdles and fifth in the long jump. She also was part of the 4×100-meter relay that finished 15th.
But what keeps the Iola athlete pushing the limits to become a state champion, and where does she go from here? How will she reach new heights?
It comes from within.
?I have this competitive spirit in me for everything I do,? Kunkler said. ?I think just the fact that I am so close to it (winning state) for the past two years is making me want to do it even more.?
Kunkler keeps that competitive spirit on even the smallest of things.
?My siblings like to play hide and seek a lot, so I will play with them sometimes,? Kunkler said. ?I?ll try to find the best places to hide so they can?t find me. I?ve hidden behind pillows on couches. I?ve even buried myself under the pillows, even though I couldn?t really breathe and I was hot? I?m still hiding there until everyone is found but me.?
Kunkler is in Norman, Okla., for the summer, recently snagging a job at Andy Alligator?s Fun Park & Water Park. To relax, she binges on the old Nickelodeon show ?Drake & Josh.?
But competing in track and field is never far from her thoughts.
?I have a year-round personal trainer that I go to for techniques,? she said. ?And over the summer I do summer track and compete. My coaches down here all ran for OU (University of Oklahoma) and coached OU hurdlers and long jumpers, so I?ve been working with them.?
She also has begun training as a heptathlete. A heptathlon consists of the high hurdles, long jump, high jump, 200-meter run, 800-meter run, shot put, and javelin.
Elysia?s mother, Damaris Kunkler of Iola, noted Elysia?s determined nature.
?She has always gone on to the next thing, and the next thing, and now she is doing this,? she said. ?She did a pentathlon last year for the first time in Wichita. It wore her out but she got third. I?m nervous for her because some of the things she has never done before. But I?m excited to see how she performs!?
Currently Kunkler is already dominant in two of the seven events, having placed at state for the 100m hurdles and long jump.
