State track meet is goal for Kyle Hett
Sports reporter
Kyle Hett knows pain.
He knows it in the form of a separated shoulder, meniscus tear, and even burns on both legs.
He knows it better than some of his friends.
Just a month away from high school graduation, Hett has yet to finish a full track season because of that nemesis called pain.
"My friends call me an old man," he said, "because there are some things I just won't try."
But there are many that he will, including being a running back on the Marion High School football team, forward on the basketball team, and hopeful state-qualifier on the track team.
It started in the fifth grade for Hett when he was accidentally stabbed in the leg with a fork. The injury bug returned his freshman year, when he had to have surgery on his knee to repair a meniscus tear. That summer, Hett slipped on wet grass while training for football and separated his shoulder, causing him to miss numerous sporting events the next season. His problems culminated May 8 of last year, when both his legs were burned after a motorcycle accident.
"When he gets injured, he gets injured," Hett's football and track coach Grant Thierolf said. "Each time there has been a legitimate cause to it."
In other words, these aren't nagging injuries with which the 18-year-old could have been playing.
"I'm kind of used to it by now," Hett said.
That doesn't mean he has let it get the best of him, even when the circumstances could have been life-threatening.
This past May, just weeks before graduation and the state track meet, Hett was at his house with his girlfriend. She was riding his motorcycle when she lost control and wrecked to avoid a barb wire fence.
Hett ran over to make sure she was okay. When he realized she was and moved her out of the way, his attention turned to his 83 KZ 750 he had owned for four years.
There was a slight leak from the gas tank, which had caused some flames. Hett ran to get a bucket of water, and when he was just 10 feet from the bike, it exploded with what Hett said were 20-foot flames.
He doesn't know why, but Hett reacted by jumping through the flames, causing both of his legs to be burned. At first, he didn't think anything was wrong.
"I walked into the house and told my mom what happened," Hett said. "She noticed blood on my shorts."
They headed to the emergency rom in Marion, and after 15 minutes, Hett was transferred to Via Christi Medical Center - St. Francis Campus burn unit in Wichita.
"Driving in the ambulance wasn't very fun," he said.
By then, the skin was peeling off Kyle's legs with the slightest touch. However, by noon the next day he was back at home.
After the accident there was no league, regional, or state track meet for Hett. It was the third year in a row the track season ended prematurely for the three-sport athlete. This year, he and Thierolf have different plans.
During spring break some of Hett's friends joked he should just stay in a padded room, and while he didn't take them up on that offer, he did try to stay healthy.
"I was just trying to take it easy," he said. "This year I really want to go to state."
He actually was at state in 2006, but it was to watch his teammates, including a boys' team that finished in fifth place. His coaches are trying to get him on the track and not in the stands this season.
"We hope he does," Thierolf said. "We're just tickled that he's finally healthy enough to do the things we've always seen that he's able to do on the track. We just look forward to seeing what he can peak out at."
This season he jumped 20 feet, four inches in his first-ever long jump, which was one of the best in the region. The same distance earned him a third-place medal Friday at the Conrad Nightengale invitational at Halstead.
"The technique is awfully raw still, but he's working hard at it, and he wants to be good at it," Thierolf said. "The technique part will come."
Hett also runs the 200-meter dash, 4x100m and 4x400m relay, and will run the 100m dash later in the season. He can no longer throw the javelin since his injured shoulder continues to bother him, popping out of place 20-30 times since the initial injury.
"I can't throw overhand anymore," he said.
There are still a lot of things he can do, including going to college in the fall. The accident turned out to be a blessing because it may have led to his future occupation. He now wants to get a nursing degree and work in emergency room situations.
"I told them not to dope me up too much because I wanted to see what was going on," Hett said.
At Washburn University he won't be playing football or running track, instead he'll be working on getting a degree that will in turn allow him to help people in situations he has experienced. But right now he has a meet in mid-May in Wichita that is on his mind.
"I know that he'll have done everything he could to bring himself back to the point of being able to qualify for state," Thierolf said. "That's all the more you can ask of somebody
