Just a few months after closing out one of the most prolific women’s basketball careers in program and conference history, Portland State’s Kelsey Kahle will be competing for a Big Sky title once again. She won’t, however, be wearing her familiar No. 11 basketball jersey this time around. The 5-10 senior has traded that in for a Portland State track and field uniform.
Kahle will represent the Vikings at the 2009 Big Sky Outdoor Track and Field Championship this week in Missoula, Mont. She enters the meet with the third-best women’s high jump mark in the conference at 5-7.00, and is the only Portland State athlete to even qualify in that event this season.
The native of Aurora, Ore. has posted some solid marks, taken first place a couple times and was named the Big Sky Athlete of the Week. She’s steadily improved with each meet and has made her way up the conference performance list. In fact, Kahle is now just 1.75 feet away from qualifying for the NCAA regionals. It’s all pretty impressive. What’s even more impressive is that she had never participated in a collegiate track meet until last month.
Kahle hadn’t been around the sport at all since high school, till recently of course. She came to Portland State in 2005 and spent the last four years writing her name throughout the women’s basketball record books. She played a significant role in the program’s drastic turnaround, and led the team to its first 20-win seasons at the NCAA Division I level. Portland State also played in the championship of the Big Sky Tournament for the first time in program history and made its first-ever postseason appearance this year.
Kahle became the school’s all-time leading scorer with 2,049 points, and broke 10 more records in the process. She earned all-conference first team honors three years in a row and was the Outstanding Freshman in 2006. She capped off her campaign by being named the 2009 Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year. If one thing is apparent by all of Kahle’s success on the court, it’s that she doesn’t lack motivation or competitive drive.
In high school, Kahle garnered Oregon all-state track and field honors in addition to her numerous basketball accolades. She participated in the high jump, triple jump and long jump, and helped North Marion High to four conference titles. At the time, Kahle undoubtedly could’ve pursued track and field at the next level but she was set on playing college basketball.
“I loved the team atmosphere in basketball, working collectively to achieve one goal. There is definitely a different approach with track,” said Kahle. I love that camaraderie on a basketball team. When it came down to it, my passion was with basketball.”
After her final college game on March 21, it didn’t take long till Kahle was ready to compete again. It was time to return to the sport she had left behind over four years ago.
“Even though I hadn’t done any track and field since high school, it had been in the back of my mind when track season came around. After basketball ended, I was pretty sad and bummed out. I had a lot of extra time on my hands,” she said.
That’s when she approached Portland State Head Coach Ronnye Harrison and his assistants about walking on.
“I asked them if I could bring my shoes out for a day, and see if I could still jump and get over the bar,” said Kahle. “They told me I was welcome to come out and give it a try.”
The trial was successful to say the least. Kahle practiced for just one week before participating in her first collegiate track meet at the Oregon-Washington Dual in Spokane, Wash. on April 11. She reached a conference-qualifying mark of 5-3.75 and took first place that day.
Kahle bettered her mark three weeks later at the Pacific Twilight in Forest Grove, Ore. when she jumped 5-5.00. She added two more inches to her best mark with a jump of 5-7.00 last week. The only athletes that rank higher than her on the performance list are Idaho State’s Sydney Wendt and Northern Colorado’s Rachel Stevens. Both Wendt and Stevens are previous Big Sky medalists and have attained NCAA regional marks.
In just over a month, Kahle has done what most field athletes train for years to do. She isn’t necessarily surprised by all of this, but she does feel that much of her recent track and field success can be attributed to her involvement in basketball.
“It made me stronger. The jumping aspect carries over from basketball, so it’s not a foreign a muscle memory,” she said. “I had to relearn the technical aspects like my approach, how to arch my back, and all of those little things that make you a good high jumper.”
Kahle does admit that she has experienced frustrations trying to master the techniques of clearing the bar again.
“It’s hard when your body hasn’t done something for that long to just go back out and expect to do well at it. It can be frustrating but I’m around a lot of encouraging people so I’m getting through that,” she said.
Nevertheless, Kahle has made the adjustment from basketball to track and field just fine. She is happy with her decision to join the team and has really enjoyed the atmosphere, and her coaches and teammates. Now its time to focus on the Big Sky Championship and her eagerness shows through once again.
“I’m excited to see what will happen at the conference meet. I will be jumping against some really good competition,” Kahle said. “I would love to jump a height that could qualify me for regionals.”
Considering all that Kahle has accomplished at this point, it wouldn’t be surprising if she is indeed competing in Eugene, Ore. at the end of the month for the 2009 NCAA West Regionals.