Pueblo County's Kyla Ruzich does it all for the Hornets track and field team
The most talented athletes on a sports team are often tasked with doing the most.
In high school, it's not uncommon for a team's best athlete to play multiple positions over the course of a season and to rarely get much of a break.
That's been the case this year for Pueblo County High junior Kyla Ruzich, who is not only tasked with being one of the top sprinters on the Hornets track and field team, but participates in nearly everything outside of the throwing events.
“I'm in the 100-meter dash, 200-meter, 4x1 and 4x2 medley, triple jump, long jump, 100-meter hurdles, sometimes the 300-meter hurdles," Ruzich said. "Last year I was in the 4x4, and pole vaulting — I almost forgot about that one."
While Ruzich excels in several different events, she's especially talented in the long jump and triple jump. She said those events are her specialties.
“My favorite probably is the triple jump. I've been doing it since middle school," Ruzich said. "At first, I was doing the long jump and then my coach had me try out the triple jump and it just stuck with me. It felt really nice, and I felt comfortable. A lot of people think that it looks hard, but it just feels natural to me and it's a bit different than the other jumps.”
Participating in jumping events also helps Ruzich improve her skills in the other sports she likes to play.
“I play basketball and volleyball too,” Ruzich said. “The jumping helps with volleyball and the running helps with basketball.”
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Ruzich has been asked to do a lot for the track team this year outside of just jumping, but she said she's willing to do whatever is asked of her to help push the team to the next level.
Speaking of next levels, Ruzich hopes to earn a scholarship to play sports in college while also earning her degree. With so much proficiency in different events and sports, she has a good chance of making that happen.
“My goal is to get a scholarship for sports and/or academics (and) hopefully making it to state in track and maybe basketball next year and volleyball again," she said.
"I'm not sure what I want to do with my life after high school, but I definitely want to go to college and get a degree and maybe study something in the medical field or animal sciences.”
In the meantime, Ruzich is trying to help her track team make it to the state finals, just as she was able to help her volleyball team make it to the playoffs earlier this year.
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Christopher Abdelmalek is a sports reporter for the Pueblo Chieftain and can be reached at cabdelmalek@gannett.com or on Twitter @chowebacca
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo County's Kyla Ruzich leaving it all on the track for the Hornets
