Central Kitsap High School student athletes experienced a shock last spring as COVID-19 determined an early end to the 2020 Spring Sports season. Senior Grace Schenk, a CKHS thrower for javelin, missed what would have been her junior year season. 

“It was seventh grade and we were going through all the events…they always have seventh graders try all the events…I threw 80 feet on my first throw,” said Schenk as she recounted her beginnings in the sport. “Mr. Fultz, my coach at the time, said I was good so I stuck with it and that’s how I got started.”

Schenk’s junior year would have been her fifth year participating in the sport, a sport that she states has worked its way into all aspects of her life, especially her work ethic. Throwing javelin is an extremely technical sport that requires a perfected form for the best results.

“Whether it’s off-season or on-season, you spend a lot of time working and not just days – it’s a lot of your time and it works its way in other parts of your life,” Schenk said as she embellished on the topic.

Schenk continues to practice the sport to perfect her form, despite the gap of official marks from her junior year season.

“Junior year is a very important season because that’s the season that you start contacting coaches and you start talking to colleges, if you’re planning for scholarships,” Schenk said as she detailed on missing her junior year at the hands of the COVID-19 pandemic. “You can’t do college visits and you don’t have any actual statistics to give them that were officially done, you just have your own marks.”

Schenk stated that she plans to pursue and continue her javelin career. Schenk aims to receive a scholarship as she looks towards college, describing this opportunity as “one of the big reasons [she] stuck with it as hard as [she has]”.

As CKHS prepares to once again enter the world of athletics, hope yet remains for scholarships and for the quintessential high school athlete experience.