MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Kaylie Laskody began her journey with track in the sixth grade.
“My dad threw me into cross-country in the sixth grade, and I wasn’t awful but I wasn’t the best, but in the spring, I had rec soccer so I never tried track until eighth grade and I wasn’t bad,” she said. “So I continued to do it in high school.”
Family also played a big part in Laskody’s track success.
“I would say my dad, mom and both sets of my grandparents have inspired me throughout the years,” she said. “My dad or grandma would make sure I was at every meet or practice, always early, too.
“My mom’s parents have always attended all of my close meets and cheer as hard as they can and it makes me feel very loved. My mom would make as many meets as she could, and since she passed away, that’s inspired me more because I know she’s there for me, even if she’s not actually there. That’s where my dad steps in — he makes up for her. He travels to almost every meet we have, even the ones in Ohio, and I was always thinking of him when I was racing or jumping.”
A Morgantown native, Laskody is a 2019 graduate of Trinity Christian School. She is currently a sophomore at Alderson Broaddus.
As a freshman, Laskody jumped 1.55-meters in the high jump at the Kent State Tune-up. She finished with a time of 9.96 in the 60-meter hurdles. At the WVU Invitational, she jumped 1.56m in the high jump. She helped her relay team finish second in the 4×400 relay with a time of 4:36.13. At the Pioneer Open, she helped her team to a third place finish in the 4×400 relay with a time of 4:30.18.
But in March, Laskody’s season was suddenly cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Only our outdoor season was canceled so I actually had my indoor season of my freshman year, but it was awful hearing of our season being canceled because not only me, but all of my teammates had been working so hard during indoor season and couldn’t wait to get to outdoor season and break even more records,” she said.
“I handled it as best as I could. I was definitely upset about no outdoor season, but I was more upset that I wouldn’t be able to run with some of the seniors again. The team was so close that it was weird going from being with each other almost 24/7 to absolutely nothing. That was the worst part of the season being canceled.”
Laskody said practice was canceled and everyone had to leave campus.
“Once we got home on spring break, we found out our outdoor season was canceled and we would only be allowed back on campus to move out stuff out,” she said. “We weren’t allowed to really be around anyone at the time so we couldn’t practice anymore.
“Everyone had to return home, some people who had no way back home, like the international students were allowed to stay until they found a way back home, but other than that, campus was empty.”
Laskody said classes resumed for the fall semester.
“I returned to campus at the beginning of August and began classes Aug. 10,” she said. “AB has taken the virus very well and has taken some classes online while some are still in person, but we wear masks and there are sanitize stations set up around campus and everything seems to be going smooth. We resumed practice Aug. 19, we are allowed eight hours a week. While the MEC, our conference, has canceled the indoor season championship, we hope that WVU or Marietta have a meet later in the year. Hopefully, we look to have an outdoor season, but it is unknown right now.”
Despite the season ending so abruptly, Laskody has several fond memories from her freshman year.
“I would say some of the most memorable things and biggest accomplishments so far would be breaking the indoor high jump record here at my first collegiate meet and having my team support me through that, and breaking the 4×4 record at the indoor championships, while growing a great bond with my coaches, Kaylyn and Paris.
“Another memorable thing would be the driving to practice every day with my four best friends just blasting country music.”
Laskody is excited about her sophomore season.
“I am most definitely looking forward to this next season and hope to break more records and travel to different colleges to race at their tracks,” she said. “And I can’t wait to be closer to the new freshmen on the team and grow a bond with everyone.”
Laskody feels running track at Alderson Broaddus is similar to Trinity.
“Track here at AB isn’t too different because the team is still small like it was at Trinity,” she said. “The main differences are the workouts, and that we have more coaches.”
There are several reasons Laskody chose to attend Alderson Broaddus.
“I decided to attend AB because it was away from home but not too far,” she said. “I get to live life on my own but not too far where I can’t visit home often. When I visited, I loved the small campus and the views that it gives. The people here are friendly and the class sizes are small like Trinity so it was a nice transition.
“I love being a part of the track team, that’s probably my favorite part because they are like my family. And everyone is very friendly, you meet one person on a team and then you meet the whole team. It is a very welcoming environment.”
Laskody said Philippi is smaller than Morgantown.
“Philippi is extremely small compared to Morgantown, we have maybe three places to eat here in Philippi,” she said. “Only one Sheetz, which is very different than like the seven in Morgantown. We have to drive 30 minutes to the closest Walmart.”
The transition from high school to college was not easy for Laskody.
“It was challenging at first, I think it was mostly nerves, but I got used to it and I’ve fallen in love with it,” she said. “It was scary to ‘leave the nest’ per say, but it has helped me grow as a person and makes me even more thankful to have such a close family who supports my dreams. It was challenging going somewhere where you don’t know anyone, like I came to AB knowing two people, and one was an upperclassman so I didn’t see her really, and one other person came from my high school so that helped me, but it was also nice being thrown into that challenge to help me get out of my comfort zone.”
Laskody is majoring in exercise science with a minor in psychology.
“After I graduate from Alderson Broaddus, I intend on continuing my education at a school I’m not sure of yet, but it will be a physical therapy school to help me towards my goal of being a prosthetic physical therapist.”
There are a few things Laskody enjoys doing in her spare time.
“In my free time I enjoy painting, hammocking or just being with my friends,” she said. “If it’s nice enough I also like to kayak or go swimming.”
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