Many people believe that taking a year off of their favorite sport would set them back. However, this was not the case for senior Kalim Dumas; he just worked harder. For his junior year, Dumas lived in Germany as an exchange student. He heard about the opportunity during his freshman year and applied for a scholarship right away.
“I think it was good for me to get away for a while, but I also missed out on some great opportunities here,” Dumas said.
While in Germany, Dumas did his best to keep in shape, as he had high expectations for the track season this year.
“I tried to run as often as possible, and I got into the gym almost every day, specifically to work on my squat for explosion,” Dumas said.
Being explosive is huge for Dumas since he participates in pole vault, as well as the 4×400 meter relay.
This season, the hard work Dumas put into both of the events was evident through his continuous high placing, especially in pole vault.
“Other than two 2nd place finishes and one 3rd place finish, I’ve only ever gotten 1st place (in pole vault),” Dumas said.
In the 4×400 relay, Dumas hopes his team will qualify for state and believes there is a solid chance that they will place.
“All four of us run consistently good times of mid 53 seconds at least, so I don’t think placing at state is that far out of reach,” Dumas said.
Dumas also hopes to break the pole vault school record of 14’ 1” by the end of this year, but he has had a few setbacks along the way.
“A lot of my success depends on the poles available to me. We have a 15’ pole but it could be dangerous to vault on because it is exactly my weight so I could snap it. We’re hoping to purchase a pole soon that fits my needs,” Dumas said.
Although Dumas has had quite a few curveballs thrown at him, he continues to succeed and get better by overcoming his setbacks. He has advice for high schoolers that want to do well in track but aren’t receiving the results they want.
“Stick with it. If you aren’t gifted with incredible talent, you have to work for everything you get. The only way to get better is by doing plenty of reps over the course of years,” Dumas said.
Photo Courtesy of Kylie Hanna
