BALTIMORE, Md. — Two years ago, the last thing Mya King thought she'd be doing was running track.
“I'm very clumsy. I trip up the stairs. I trip down the stairs. I trip out the house,” she said.
Still, she joined the team at Sparrows Point High School. Her family had one suggestion.
“My mom was like 'Mya, you shouldn't do hurdles.' She was like 'Just stay away from them. That just wouldn't go well.' And here I am today."
Today the senior is a state champion and record holder.
King recently completed the trifecta of indoor track. She won the 55 meter hurdles in Baltimore County at the 1A Central Region and at 1A State Championships, and she broke a 26-year-old state record in the process. She ran the event in 8.19 seconds.
”I was crying. I was just like 'Finally. All my hard work is finally paying off',“ she said.
”She wanted to be good. She kept working at it and working at it,“ said Sparrows Point women's track coach Geoffrey Holland. ”You talk about natural ability - sometimes it's there and then you have natural ability and hard work. That's when you really get it.“
Her drive to be the best is unmatched.
”She's an athlete and she truly has the ability. But, she wants to work hard,“ added Holland.
King will be running track at Ohio University. When she becomes a Bobcat she'll have almost 40 college credits because she's currently enrolled at Community College of Baltimore County.
”Academics have always come before athletics for me. I would say that I'm pretty self motivated to do well,“ she said.
She'll wants to study physical therapy at Ohio and she's dreaming big when it comes to her future hopping hurdles.
”The Olympics are there, but we don't know if I'm there yet. But, maybe.“
Congratulations Mya King. You're this week's M&T Bank Student Athlete of the Week.
To nominate a student athlete to be the next M&T Bank Student Athlete of the Week click here .
Follow Shawn Stepner on Twitter @StepnerWMAR and Facebook
